New life of the Kasugano Twins
by Benzux
Summary: The Kasugano twins have left behind their life in their childhood home. Together they have decided that nobody has the right to judge them. Will this new chapter in their life overseas allow them to cherish the feelings they have for each other? A fic based on the ending of the 4th arc in the anime. Rated M for Lemons. Features crossover characters from other shows.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Greetings, my dear readers! Before we get into this fic itself, a few things I have to say.**

 **Firstly, this story _heavily_ includes themes that some people may not agree with, or even find outright disgusting. I am obviously talking about incest between siblings. But, if you do find the thought revolting, why are you reading a fic based on this specific Anime anyway? In any case, if that is something you cannot live with, this isn't the story for you, my friend.**

 **Secondly, this story will be based around the Anime, specifically, the 4th (and best) arc of the anime, which encompasses the last three episodes (10-12). However, some elements will be taken from the Manga version of the story, such as the country that the twins travel to ("A small Scandinavian country"), and the fact that they do plan on eventually returning to Japan. I'm not sure if I'll write it that far, but we will see. I have not looked into the visual novel version of the story, so elements from there will not be featured, unless I do so on accident without even knowing.**

 **And finally, remember that this is all a work of fiction. In no way does this fic represent my ideals when it comes to anything, though I am open-minded when it comes to relationships between people — something which I believe is entirely up to the individuals themselves. To quote Yorihime Nao from the last episode of the Anime: "Because you can't stop someone from falling in love."**

 **Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this fic!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 – A New Life**

 _Sora slowly opened her eyes, the sunlight coming from between the blinds stirring her awake. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, the jet-lag still strong, despite already having spent almost a week here. After a nice stretch and a loud yawn, she glanced down to her left and smiled. Haru was still fast asleep next to her, his face looking so peaceful. Sora couldn't resist the urge to lean down and kiss him on the cheek, while rubbing his silver-coloured hair with her hand. His beautiful hair had the same hue as hers, a testament from their mother. Sora closed her eyes and snuggled against Haru's warm, sleeping form. She was more than happy to spend the rest of her days like this, with her twin brother._

 _With the man she loved._

* * *

 _I was brought out of my dreams by a loud beeping coming from the table next to the bed. I reached out to silence the annoying alarm clock, only to find my hand missing its target repeatedly. As I opened my groggy eyes and looked at the table, I realized that it wasn't the alarm clock making the sound. Heck, there wasn't even an alarm clock to begin with. I reached for my phone and opened it to see a familiar name flashing on the screen. I glanced at the time on the phone to realize why the person was calling me._

"Shit." Was all that I could muster to say.

I took a deep breath and answered the phone.

"Hello?" I said, trying my best to stop the incoming yawn – and failing horribly.

"Haruka-kun? Jeez, do you know what time it is?" A male voice called out to me.

"Yes, yes I do. Sorry, the jet-lag is still very much affecting both of us." I said and looked down at my sister, soundly sleeping next to me. A smile formed on my face.

I could hear a barely audible sigh from my phone.

"Well, I'll be coming over there in an hour, ok? Make sure you're both up and about by then."

"Don't worry, we'll be ready. See you then!"

After exchanging farewells, the call ended and I placed my phone back on the table.

"An hour, huh? I better start getting ready then..." I muttered to myself.

Suddenly I could feel something gripping my right arm. I looked down and saw Sora hugging it, my arm nestled between her modest breasts. She opened her eyes ever so slightly to meet mine.

"Haru… Who was that..." Sora asked me, obviously still extremely sleepy.

"Minaduki." I replied to her. "We've got an hour to get ready before he comes here."

Minaduki Hideki was an acquaintance of ours, who had worked with our parents before their accident. He was a craftsman by trade, and had been living in Finland for a few years now. After the events that had transpired only a couple weeks ago, I had contacted him in hopes that he could help us in our predicament. Our aunt and uncle were willing to take us in, but at the cost of us getting separated. After Sora and I had decided to pursue a future together, we couldn't imagine ever being separated again, so we refused their offer. Luckily, Minaduki was more than willing to help us, as his little business was making a steady profit. Together, we arranged for the two of us to get some plane tickets to Helsinki, from where we would take a bus ride to Minaduki's home city. Or rather, the closest city that buses went to, as Minaduki didn't live anywhere near any metropolitan areas. We had ordered a taxi to take us to where Minaduki lived, but the driver had ditched us halfway through when I had told Sora that we might not be able to afford the whole way. Who knew he would be so fluent in Japanese? Anyway, it took us quite some time to find our way there, and we couldn't even call him because our phones didn't have a signal so far out in the countryside. For the past couple of days we had stayed over at his place, doing our best to ease the jet-lag.

"Hmmmm? An hour, you say..." Sora cut me out of my thoughts as her hand trailed down my body.

"Sora, wait. We can't be doing _that_ now." I said and grabbed her hand before she could do something irreversible.

"Haruuuuuu… I know you want to, you pervert." Sora said and flashed a wicked smirk at me. "Or are you saying that an hour is not enough time for you?"

"No, I… Sora, look, we've only just got here. We can't risk Minaduki finding out about our relationship yet."

"I thought you said you didn't care what other people thought of us any more." Sora said with a frown on her face. "Besides, you haven't screwed me at all since we got here. I'm missing the feeling of you inside of me..." She continued and licked her lips.

Whatever she was trying to do, it was definitely working. I just hoped she wouldn't notice it. I took a deep breath and sighed to calm myself down before responding.

"You are absolutely correct, Sora, but you must understand that if Minaduki finds out and doesn't accept it, we have no-one else to turn to. Just… be patient, okay?" I looked into her grey eyes and held her hand with my own, intertwining our fingers.

"We'll be fine if it's just the two of us, right? Isn't that what this is all about?" She muttered to me and averted her gaze.

"It pains me as well, you know that, but all I'm asking from you is to be patient. I'll… make it up to you as soon as we can, okay?" I gave her hand a small squeeze and smiled reassuringly at her.

Sora looked into my eyes for a few moments, clearly thinking about the situation, until a grin made its way onto her face.

"You better make it up to me good then."

I swallowed at her response but returned the smile.

"I promise. Now, let's get ready before Minaduki gets here, shall we?" I said as I rose up from the bed and stretched.

Sora and I proceeded to do everything one would normally do when waking up, despite the time being way past midday already. We had been in Finland for almost a week now, but the jet-lag was still affecting us. We hadn't travelled much in the past, so going this far away from Japan was a new thing for both of us. It was a welcome change, though. After what happened back home, and what we had discovered about our feelings, we needed some time away. In solitude, but not alone, for we had each other. That was more than enough for both of us, and we knew it. But I also knew that society might not think that way. Sora knew it too, but she didn't want to dwell on it.

We were currently staying over at Minaduki's place, but we probably wouldn't be staying here for too long. After that, we could be as open with each other as we wanted to. And we both wanted that very much. To my surprise though, Sora didn't try to do anything with me during the time we got ready. Perhaps she was finally developing some patience? In the end, it didn't take that much time for us to get ready, although Sora spent an awful lot of time in the shower. I could still hear the water running by the time Minaduki's car pulled over at the front yard.

"Tadaima!" I heard from the entrance while I was setting out a change of clothes for Sora.

 _Guess old habits die hard even after you've lived in a foreign country for a while, eh?_ I thought to myself before replying.

"Welcome back, Minaduki-san!"

"Ah, Haruka-kun! Didn't I tell you that you don't have to act so formal with me, we're living together, at least for the time being, right? Call me Hideki-kun, or just Hideki is fine too." He said to me as he walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Ah, right, sorry." I replied and bowed my head a little.

"Baka, didn't I just say you don't need to be so formal." Hideki said and laughed at me.

"I guess you did, hah!" I laughed with him as I rubbed the back of my neck.

"So, how are you liking it here in Finland?"

"Hm? Well, we haven't gotten to see much yet, what with the jet-lag and all, but it does seem like a nice country. I don't know about Sora, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of it."

"I see. That raises a question, where is your sister right now?" Hideki asked and looked around for any signs of her.

"She's… taking a shower right now. Best not to disturb her yet."

"Then we won't be doing that. Have you eaten already? I could whip something up real quick."

"Ah, yes, we did eat already. I hope you don't mind that I used some ingredients from the fridge-"

"Don't worry about it." Hideki cut me off and pointed towards the kitchen. "I'll make some tea, then. Is that okay with you?"

"Go ahead."

Hideki smiled at me and made his way to the kitchen. While he was preparing the tea, I thought that I should inform Sora that he had returned, in case she didn't hear it over the running water. I made my way to where I had left the clothes for her and could still hear the shower running. I glanced briefly at the glass door and saw Sora's figure sitting in the bath. I found myself staring at her through the door, unable to look away. I mentally slapped myself to remind myself that I was the one who suggested patience. I took a deep breath and let out a sigh. I looked back at Sora and brought my hand to the door so I could knock on it to inform Sora of my presence. Before I could make contact with the door, however, I heard something through the running water.

 _Ah!_

The sound was unmistakeable coming from Sora. And the instant I heard it, I knew why she was taking so long in the shower.

 _She couldn't hold herself back completely then._ I thought to myself. Suddenly, an interesting idea made its way into my head. I grinned at myself and looked back at Sora. She was focusing completely on pleasing herself, she wouldn't notice me. I walked back and closed the door leading to the room, then crept back to the door to the shower. I slowly brought my hand to the door and opened it as silently as I could. I now saw Sora clearly. She was sitting down in the bathtub, the shower running next to her. Her eyes were closed and she had a couple fingers from her right hand in her mouth, while her left hand was working its magic between her legs. I slowly crept up to her and closed the shower, then leaned over her. It took her a few seconds to realize that the only sound muffling her moans was now gone, but when she did, her eyes opened in an instant and met mine directly.

"Gyaah! Haru?" Sora visibly jumped as she saw that I was leaning over her. I noticed that she didn't try to cover herself at all.

"You were taking your time here in the shower, so I thought I'd just tell you that Hideki-kun is back." I said to her innocently and smiled.

Sora turned her head away from away from me and muttered "Baka..." under her breath. I let out a little laugh and she turned back to me, pouting.

"First you say we can't do it here because Minaduki is coming back and then you interrupt me, baka Haru..." She said to me and looked angry, though I got the feeling that she might've been faking it.

"I told you I'd make it up to you, didn't I? Well, I'll be going back to Hideki-kun now. Make sure you're finished here soon." I said to her and winked.

Before she could respond to me, I pulled her face closer to mine and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. We stayed connected for a few seconds before I broke the kiss. I could tell Sora wanted more, and honestly so did I, but I knew we couldn't do anything more, especially now that Hideki was home. I walked out of the shower and turned back to close the glass door.

"Haruka-kun?" I froze in my tracks immediately as I heard Hideki's voice from behind me.

"Y-yes?" I said and turned around, but only saw a partially open door and the clothes I had laid out for Sora on the bench next to the washing machine.

"Ah, there you are. Is she finished yet? I don't hear the shower any more." Hideki asked as he opened the door fully and entered the small room.

"Uhhh, I think so. She should be joining us soon. I was just here to inform her that you had come back." I said and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Hmmm?" Hideki raised an eyebrow at me and had a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, that's good to hear. The tea should be ready, do you want to wait for her?" He continued after a few moments.

"I don't think Sora would want us to wait for her." I responded and walked towards him.

"All right. I brought out some snacks for us to eat as well." Hideki said and smiled at me, before turning to leave.

I released the breath I didn't realize I was holding. _I don't think he knows, what a relief. I need to be more careful when he's around from now on._ I thought to myself as I walked back to the dining area.

True to his words, Hideki had brought out some biscuits and what seemed to be some sort of chocolate onto the table. He had laid out three cups for all of us, two of them next to each other and the third one across the table. I walked over and sat down on while Hideki was getting the tea ready.

"You said to me on the first day here that you planned on returning to Japan at some point. How long do you two plan on staying here?" Hideki suddenly asked without even looking away from the kettle.

"Oh, yeah. Umm… about that..." I tried to think of a way to tell him we wanted some alone time, just the two of us.

"Is there something on your mind, Haruka-kun?" Hideki asked, now turning to look at me.

"Well, how should I say this… We… don't want to take advantage of your hospitality too much, and were thinking that we should see about moving to a hotel, or something."

Hideki just looked at me with a baffled expression on his face. The silence between us was broken by the tea kettle informing us that our tea was ready.

"Taking advantage of my hospitality? That's quite a negative way of thinking about it, isn't it?" Hideki finally responded and proceeded to take the kettle and pour himself a bit of tea. "I would never think of you two staying here as 'taking advantage'. Your parents were great friends of mine, and I miss them dearly. The least I can do for them is take care of you two, something which your _actual_ family didn't want to do, or so I hear." He finished his sentence by taking a little sip of his tea, as if to confirm that the taste was fine.

"Right, yeah, sorry I said it that way. It's just… after everything that happened that caused us to take this trip… Sora and I… we just… want to be alone together for a while, you know?" I decided that trying to avoid the truth would be the worst thing to do, but I didn't want Hideki to know the _full_ truth either.

"Oh? Is that so?" Hideki said and a wry smile appeared on his face.

"Well, yes. We've… been through a lot, and decided that taking this trip together was something that we… both wanted. Of course, I don't mean that I don't appreciate your hospitality. You were the only person I felt we could turn to, and you've been very helpful to-"

"I get it, Haruka-kun." Hideki cut me off again and poured tea into my cup. "You want to spend some time with your dear sister, the only family you have left that you can rely on. I… admire that. The bond you two have is something I wish I could've had when I was young. Alas, I never had any siblings, so I can only do my best to help you two out." He continued and smiled at me. If only he knew what kind of _bond_ the two of us shared.

"Thank you for understanding, Hideki-kun." I replied and sipped my tea. It was a bit hot, but very tasty. "So, do you like, know any good hotels nearby?"

"Oh, I've got something better for you than a hotel. If you're willing to take my offer, that is."

"I'm listening."

"Well, you see, this place is obviously where I live, and I like it here. But a year ago I actually purchased another property not too far away from here. Well, not too far away by Finland's standards. It's about a two-hour drive. I guess you could say that the 'Finnish spirit' invaded me around that time, and I felt the need to get a summer cottage, where I could go and lay low for a while, to enjoy the simpler things in life."

"Wait, Hideki-kun, you're not saying that we..." I interjected into his little speech.

"I am saying it. If you two want some alone time together, you are free to stay over at my summer cottage. It's a bit out of the way, kinda like this place, but there's a small town nearby where you can buy some things, should the need arise. Of course, I'd be coming over every now and then to check up on you two, if you don't mind that."

"That is… very generous of you, Hideki-kun. I'd be delighted to accept your offer, but I'll need to talk with Sora about it first..." I replied and bowed my head a little.

"Talk about what with me first?" I heard the familiar voice of my sister.

I turned around to see that Sora had finally come out of the shower. She was wearing the clothes I had set out for her. Her hair was cascading down freely, and I could see it was still slightly wet. She was dragging along her plushie, as usual.

"Ah, Sora-chan. We were just discussing your plans on getting some time alone without me bothering you two!" Hideki said with a big smile on his face. Sora looked at me and raised an eyebrow, then sat down next to me.

"Well, that's one way of putting it, I guess. Hideki-kun was willing to let us use his summer cottage, since I told him we were wanting to spend some time together on this vacation of ours." I told her as Hideki poured tea into Sora's cup.

Sora just looked at me again with a questioning look on her face. Then picked up the cup and took a sip from it, all while keeping eye contact with me.

"You know what you two are making it sound like, right?" Sora said after an uncomfortable amount of silence between us.

I went a little pale and almost choked on the tea I was drinking, while Hideki just let out a hearty laugh.

"Oh, Sora-chan. I _assure_ you, I didn't mean it like that. It's not like I'm talking to a young couple in love." Hideki gave us both a look I couldn't quite discern the meaning of before continuing. "Haruka-kun here told me that this trip was meant for the both of you to enjoy together, as a _family_ , and I'm all for supporting the two of you. As I already said to Haruka-kun, the least I can do for your late parents is doing my best to take care of you two. I owe them a lot, you know."

Sora reached out for a biscuit and took a small bite out of it, crumbs getting all over the table. She looked as if she was deep in thought. Her second bite of the biscuit was larger, and after two more bites the whole thing had disappeared into her mouth.

"What do you say, Sora? We wouldn't have to try to find a hotel." I asked my sister

"Minaduki." Sora said after swallowing her treat.

"Just call me Hideki. We're not in Japan right now, you know." Hideki replied with a smile.

"Right. Does it have electricity?"

"The summer cottage? Oh, yes it does. But other than that, it's a bit out of the way. There's a town nearby if you felt like you needed to get something, and I've got a bike there you can use to your heart's content. All I ask of you in return is to not wreck the place, but I'll be visiting every now and then anyway."

Sora thought for a few moments before turning back to me.

"Sounds good. When can we leave?" She said, more to me than Hideki.

"I have some things I still need to do today, but I can give you a ride there tomorrow. Hopefully your jet-lag will be gone by then." Hideki said and took a piece of chocolate into his mouth.

"Great! We'll spend today here then and get ready tomorrow." I replied and also took some chocolate. It was dark chocolate with a slight coffee flavour to it.

I looked over to Sora and smiled at her as I munched on the chocolate. She returned the smile and took my left hand with her right under the table, intertwining our fingers.

"Heh, maybe I _am_ looking at a young couple in love..." Hideki muttered to himself, barely audible.

"Sorry? I didn't quite get that." I asked him after swallowing my chocolate.

"Oh, it was nothing. I was just thinking out loud. I'll need to check some things tomorrow when I drop you off at my summer cottage." Hideki brushed my question off and then put his fist onto his palm, as if remembering something. "Oh, I'll also need to show you a route to the nearby town, should you need it."

I looked at Sora again and raised an eyebrow in question, but she just shook her head ever so slightly. Looks like she didn't hear what Hideki had said either. I didn't dwell on it though.

The rest of the day went by rather quickly. Hideki left shortly after we had finished our tea, and the two of us spent the day relaxing, getting used to the time difference in hopes of finally being free of the jet-lag tomorrow. I for one was very excited for the following day, and I felt that Sora was as well, in her own way.

Symbolically, tomorrow would mark the first day of our new life, together.

* * *

 **AN:** And there's the first chapter done! I'll be trying my best to update this story regularly, though I'll have to put in some more work into the following chapters, especially considering the specific location for the story. I sense quite a bit of research ahead!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Just a quick warning before we get into the chapter itself: This chapter is where the "M" rating comes into play. That's the only warning there'll be, but I think it's quite clear when the spicy stuff starts happening. There will be content other than that in the chapter, of course.**

 **With that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I certainly enjoy writing this story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Alone Together**

"Haruka-kun? Sora-chan? We're almost here." I heard Hideki's voice from the front seat.

I looked at Sora, who was currently leaning against me, fast asleep. She looked so cute, I almost didn't want to wake her up. After realizing I had stared at her for a good ten seconds, I nudged her gently.

"Sora, wake up. We're here." I said and gently ruffled my sister's hair.

Sora stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes slowly. She blinked a few times before letting out a loud yawn and stretching.

"...Took you long enough." She muttered.

"I did say it would be take about two hours to Taivalkoski, didn't I?" Hideki pronounced the name of the town quite easily, where as I had struggled with it before. "Well, we did also take a little detour in the actual town itself, but that was to make sure Haruka-kun knew the layout of the place somewhat, so that you wouldn't get lost if you ever went there."

"...I don't think we'll be leaving the house much." Sora muttered again. As I looked over to her, I could see a slight smirk on her face.

"Hmmmm? Sora-chan, I think you need to get some more fresh air. Going out every once in a while would do good for you. You're pale as a sheet!" Hideki said and chuckled. "Anyway, get ready, you two. We're here now."

Hideki turned on to a heavily wooded part of the road. Branches scraped across the car's sides. A few moments later, a building came into view. Hideki drove the car to the clearing and pulled over next to another, smaller building.

"I'll show you around before we bring your luggage in, alright?" Hideki said as we exited his car.

"Sounds good to me." I said and looked at Sora, who simply nodded at me.

"Great! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask." Hideki said and clapped his hands together.

"Well, to start off, the large building is obviously the main one, but what about this smaller one here?" I asked and pointed at the smaller building Hideki had pulled over next to.

"This one? It's a storage shed of sorts. There's some tools and such in there, as well as a bunch of firewood. Ah, the bicycle I mentioned should also be there. We should probably test it before I leave."

"...We can test it on our own." Sora said and turned away from the storage building. I could tell she didn't like Hideki sticking around, when we were promised time alone.

I placed a hand on Sora's shoulder and smiled at her reassuringly. She sighed and placed her hand on top of mine for a moment.

"Well, I guess that's true. You two aren't kids any more, after all. Oh, yes, I should probably make you acquainted with the restroom." Hideki said and walked past us.

Directly opposite from the storage building, across the clearing there was a small, wooden outhouse. A large fir tree stood to the left of it, and several smaller trees were located around it. The outhouse could easily be missed from afar, or in the dark. Sora looked at the outhouse dumbfounded while Hideki and I walked over to it.

"Sora?" I turned to look at my sister. She blinked a couple times and then walked over to us.

"This is the… 'restroom'?" Sora said quietly.

"Well, this is all my private property, and most of it's forested, so as long you're brave enough, _anywhere_ here can act as your restroom. Hah!" Hideki said and laughed as he opened the door of the outhouse.

The outhouse was small from the inside as well, capable of having two people within it at maximum. Most of the space inside was taken by a bench of sorts, the centre of which had a lid, which I guess acted as the toilet seat. A roll of toilet paper sat on the bench to the left of the lid, and above it was a small shelf with a couple of faded Manga books. On the floor was a bucket, though I couldn't see what was inside of it.

"I should probably explain how this works, huh." Hideki said and brought a hand to his chin. "Well, it's simple, really." He said as he opened the lid. "You can guess what this is for. Once you're done, toilet paper is provided as necessary. There should be more inside the main building, should it run out. Once you're finished, you 'flush' with this." He pointed at the bucket and picked it up, angling it so we could see inside. "You take a handful or two and drop it down, it helps the decomposing, and masks the smell somewhat." Hideki demonstrated by grabbing a handful from the bucket. It looked like it was a combination of mulch and some sort of wood scrap, though it didn't look like there were any splinters in it.

"That doesn't sound too difficult. What do you think, Sora?" I said and turned to my sister.

Sora peeked inside the outhouse, her gaze moving around the small space. I could tell she was deep in thought, and she looked like she was measuring the place up.

"A bit small, but there should be enough space for it to serve its purpose." Sora said and moved away from the outhouse. I raised an eyebrow at her choice for words. She had spoken like this for a little while now. Was she trying to say something?

We left the outhouse and Hideki guided us to the other side of the main building. I had already suspected as much, but Hideki confirmed that where he had parked his car was the backyard. As we came around the right side of the building, the front yard came into view. It was larger and more open than the backyard, and unlike the gravel covering the ground in the backyard, the front yard had a nice grass lawn. The centre of the yard had a large, smooth boulder, that was about knee-high, though I suspected most of the boulder was underground. It looked too large to have been moved there, so it must have been natural. On top of the boulder stood a statue depicting a bear standing on its hind legs with a large fish in its front paws, carved out of wood. Behind the bear on the left side of the front yard I could see a table and a couple of patio chairs, and past them I spotted another building, which was a bit out of the way, like the outhouse had been.

"Do you like it?" Hideki asked when he noticed I had stopped and was looking around at everything. "At first I was thinking of having the boulder removed, but when I saw that carving while I was purchasing the chair and table set, I knew I had to buy it. The boulder acts like a natural plinth, doesn't it?"

"It does look really good." I said as I walked closer to the bear to examine it. I suspected it was a little smaller than I was, since it stood a little taller than I did thanks to the boulder.

"What's that building over there?" Sora asked and pointed at the building I had noticed as well.

"Hm? Oh, that's the sauna. You've heard of Finland's saunas, right?" Hideki asked us in turn.

Sora shook her head, the twin tails of her hair spinning around cutely.

"I only know what I read about Finland before we came here, so not much. Are they special?"

"I don't know about special, but they are damn good. I could show you two how it works, in case you want to test it out tonight?"

"...We'll do it later, when you next come over." Sora said. She was quite eager to have Hideki leave us alone, it seems.

"All right. I was planning on visiting tomorrow anyway, so I guess I'll teach you two then." Hideki paused and looked back at us, then shifted his gaze to somewhere past the front yard. "Ah, yes. As I mentioned on the way here, this place is right next to the lake Pikku Siikalampi. It's quite a funny name, it would translate to something like 'Little Whitefish Pond'. I haven't had the chance to test whether or not the name fits yet, though." Hideki said and chuckled. "If you need water, or just want to go for a swim, you don't have to go far."

"We'll keep that in mind, though I don't think we're going to be doing much swimming." I said and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Oh? Why this that?" Hideki asked, raising his brow.

"Well, I don't really know how to swim, first of all. I did get a little bit of tutoring from Nao-ch..." I stopped as I realized what I was about to say and glanced over at Sora, but she seemed calm as usual. "Ahem, I mean I got a little bit of tutoring from a _friend_ of mine back in Okukozome, but I'm still not confident enough to not drown." I glanced back at Sora and she was ever so slightly smiling.

"Oh, I apologize, I didn't know about this. Perhaps I should take some time at some point and teach you?"

In an instant, Sora's smile was gone, replaced by an eye twitching from anger. She seemed to manage to calm herself before responding though.

"I can teach Haru if the need arises." Sora said and started walking back towards to backyard. "If there's nothing else you want to show us, we should get our luggage and see the inside as well."

Hideki walked over to me and scratched his head.

"Is she angry at me? Have I done something to offend Sora-chan?" He asked as he turned to look at me.

 _Yeah, she's angry because you're still here and I'm not screwing her brains out yet._ Is what I could have said, but decided to leave it into my thoughts. "Beats me, but she's right, we should probably settle in."

I made my way to the car with Hideki, where Sora had taken out her bag. Because she was physically so weak, I had carried most of our stuff in two large suitcases. Hideki had also brought over some things, including food that he had purchased. He insisted on having us take it, since he had bought it in the first place because we had stayed at his place. We made our way back to the front yard and Hideki took out a single key, separate from the key chain I had seen him store his other keys in, then used it to open the front door.

"This is the spare key that I have. I'll be giving it to you for the time that you two live here, but I'll be using my own key to come in every now and then!" Hideki said and winked as he handed the key to me after opening the door.

The inside of Hideki's summer cottage was not entirely what I had expected. Firstly, the whole building was one room, with no walls or doors to separate different rooms. This made it very open, and it felt larger than it actually was. Certain areas could be distinguished to serve different purposes, however. Immediately to the right stood a large table and two benches, serving as a dining area. The large window gave a nice view of the front yard, and one could make out the lake between all the trees. Looking past the table, I could make out what seemed like a kitchen area in the corner of the building. The centre had a large fireplace, behind which in the corner farthest from us I could spot a bed. A large sofa was located against the back wall in front of us. A smaller table and some chairs were located in front of it, giving a living room-esque feel. In the corner I could see some sort of metal box in the wall next to a bookshelf.

"It's nice and homely, don't you think?" Hideki asked suddenly, bringing me out of my observations, placing his keychain on the dining table and taking his shoes off at the same time. "You can leave your shoes here. As for your luggage, just leave them anywhere, I don't really mind." He continued and pointed to our left, where a wardrobe and a low shelf was located. Sora and I took off our shoes and placed them next to Hideki's.

"Yeah, it is kinda homely in a way. Nice and open too." I replied to him and decided to leave the luggage under the window on the left, next to the wardrobe.

Sora was looking around intensely, measuring up the place as she had done with the outhouse. She left her bag on the sofa in the back, then walked over to the fireplace.

"I thought you said there was electricity here?" She asked as she inspected the fireplace.

"Oh, there is. The fireplace is more for show, but I like to get it going every once in a while, especially during winter. It's nice and cozy to sit down in front of it and read a good book. But there is electricity here. I just have it turned off when I'm not around. Here, I'll show you how it works." Hideki said and guided us to the back wall, more precisely, to the metal box I had spotted.

Up close I could see that the box had a lock on it. Hideki reached for the side of the box and took out a key that was hanging on a hook, using it to open the lock. Inside, I could see multiple switches and some indicators. Hideki flipped the large, red switch in the box, then turned to us.

"This is a control panel of sorts. The main switch turns on the electricity, and the other two switches turn on the electricity for the sauna and the storage shed. You shouldn't have any need to turn it off again, but if there's a thunderstorm coming, it might be a wise idea to do so. If you do need to turn it off, remember to turn off the electricity for the sauna and the storage shed first, before turning off the main power." Hideki explained to us and looked at us, asking if we had understood him with his expression. Sora and I nodded to him and he closed the box again, hanging the key back.

"Sounds simple enough. I hope that we won't need to worry about thunderstorms." I replied to him as he started walking towards the kitchen area with the food he had brought with him.

"I hope so too, thunderstorms can be nasty here, what with all the trees and such. Wouldn't want one of them falling on you." Hideki said as he opened the fridge and tested if it had cooled enough for the food.

"So this is the kitchen then?" I asked and glanced around the small area. The fridge was situated in the corner, with various cupboards and tables around it. A stove was located right next to the fireplace.

"It is. There isn't anything fancy, just the microwave and stove, but then again, I never planned to stay here for long. Oh, yes, the stove isn't electric, by the way. You'll need to warm it with wood if you want to use it."

Sora walked up behind me and looked around the kitchen, just like she had done for the rest of the building. She came up to Hideki and looked at him placing food into the relatively small fridge.

"Is there something you need, Sora-chan?" Hideki asked with a smile.

"Nothing. I was just wondering what we'd have to eat." Sora said and looked back at the bed on the other side of the room. I could see a faint smirk on her face.

"Well, at least for today, there won't be anything special. Just the things I brought with me. There's some food and ingredients you'll be accustomed to, but I've got some microwaveable stuff for a quick meal if you're in a hurry. You'll be able to buy more food at Taivalkoski, if and when you go there." Hideki explained as he finished putting the food into the fridge.

"We'll probably go visit tomorrow, when we have the time. We'll need to get accustomed to this place, as it is out temporary home while we're here." I said to him.

"Oh yeah, we'll definitely get _accustomed_ to the place, alright." Sora said quietly, the smirk on her face growing even bigger. It suddenly dawned on me why exactly she was sizing up the place. _That dirty little Sora._ I thought as a smirk of my own appeared on my face.

"Well, that should be about it. I'll be back tomorrow to finish up here." Hideki said and looked around, his gaze stopping on the bed. "Oh, right. There's only one bed. I mean, it's large enough for two people, but… I could bring in some pillows and a cover, so Haruka-kun could sleep on the couch."

"No, you don't need to do that. We'll be fine with just the one bed. We slept together in your guest bed back at your house too, didn't we?" I turned my gaze to Sora, who was looking at the bed intently. "Right, Sora?"

My comment seemed to snap her out of her daze, and she looked back at me. It took her a few moments to process what I had said.

"Yes, we'll be _more_ than fine with just one bed, no need to bring in anything." Sora turned to look at Hideki, suppressing a smirk. "We're twins, it's _totally_ fine if we sleep in the same bed."

"Hmmm? If you say so." Hideki said and smiled. "Well, I'll be taking my leave then. I'll see you two tomorrow. Does 2 in the afternoon sound good to you?"

"Yeah, that sounds fine. We'll see you then!"

"Have fun, you two! I'll see you tomorrow." Hideki said and winked before he left.

The two of us watched as he walked past the window to the backyard. As soon as he disappeared from view, Sora's hands were on my collar as she pulled me into a kiss. I didn't even have a moment to react as her tongue hungrily invaded my mouth. I pulled her close and embraced her as we kissed, staying connected for a good ten seconds or so, before I broke the kiss and looked her straight in the eyes. I could see how much she wanted me, she must have been holding back.

"Sora..."

"Haru..."

As Sora took my hand and started slowly pulling me towards the bed, we heard the door open. Both of us jumped at the sudden noise, and I looked back to the entrance to see Hideki taking something off the table.

"Haruka-kun! I just forgot my keys, and I kinda need those to drive home, haha!" Hideki said and laughed at himself. "I'll be leaving for good, now, see you tomorrow!" He continued and left once again.

I stood there dumbfounded, my face pale as snow. _Did he see us? He didn't react at all, so I don't think he did. I'm glad that I don't have to explain that._ I released the breath I was holding in and looked back at Sora. She looked a little irritated that our make-out session was interrupted like that.

"Don't look so sad, I want you to smile." I said to her and smiled myself. "He didn't see what we were doing. Speaking of which, where were we again?" I continued and the smile turned into a smirk.

Sora smirked back at me and I could see the passion burning in her eyes. She pulled me into another deep kiss. We embraced again and Sora walked backwards towards the bed again, pulling me with her. As we got to the bed, Sora broke the kiss and started undressing herself. While I was wearing a simple T-shirt, Sora was wearing her usual dress, so it took her much longer to try to remove it than it did for me to take off my t-shirt. After a few attempts at trying to remove the piece of clothing, I could see Sora's irritation was growing. I couldn't help but chuckle a little at her.

"Leave it on." I said to her and grabbed her arm. "We don't need to take it off fully, just open the buttons at the front."

As I said that, I reached for her chest and spread the dress open, revealing her bra. It seemed like she was expecting us to do it today, as her bra had a clasp on the front, making it easily removable. Sora pulled me into another kiss as I removed her bra and she laid down on the bed. Our tongues explored each other's mouths, mixing our saliva together as my left hand held her in place, with my right hand groping her now naked breasts. I could feel Sora's hands fumble around my belt, and she expertly removed it. I broke the kiss again, but quickly afterwards started planting kisses along her jaw and down her neck. After a few seconds I reached down to her chest and took one of her nipples into my mouth, gently sucking on it while applying a bit of force with my teeth.

"Aaaaahn… Haru..." Sora moaned while her hands found their way into my pants, grasping my hardening member. "Haru… You pervert… Turned on by your sister's small boobs..." She whispered into my ear. I have to admit, I definitely liked when Sora talked dirty to me.

"They're not small, Sora. They're just the perfect size." I said back to her and switched to her other nipple.

"Ah! I knew it… Lolicon pervert..." Sora said and snickered.

"Hey, don't accuse me of that. I'm not a lolicon, and your boobs aren't small. They're the only ones I want to look at, after all, _you're_ the only girl I want to look at, Sora." I kissed her lightly on the lips as I finished saying that to her.

"Haru..." Sora looked at me, misty-eyed. "Alright, enough of this sappy shit. I love you from the bottom of my heart, and so do you. Now _fuck me hard_ , Haru." Sora said, and her eyes shifted from one element to another – from misty to fiery.

"As you wish, my dear sister." I said and kissed her deeply again.

My hands found their way downwards, and soon I had my fingers hooked into Sora's panties. She had also made this easy for me, as other than her panties, she only had her stockings on, as her dress covered her legs enough to not warrant wearing trousers. Sora's grip on my member tightened as she used her other hand to pull my pants down slightly, releasing it from confinement. I also managed to pull off her panties, and she kicked them onto the floor. _Heh, I'll take that as an answer to the question "What will we do tonight"._ I thought to myself. My fingers found their way to her snatch, one finger slipping in while another one teased her clit. She was already extremely wet. She let out little moans as I used my fingers on her, my tongue exploring her mouth. At the same time, Sora had started to slowly jerk me. After a few moments, Sora broke our kiss. She was breathing heavily as a string of saliva still connected our mouths. I took the opportunity to return my attention to her breasts.

"Ah, Didn't I – Ah! Tell you… to fuck me – Ah! Stop teasing me, Haru!" Sora said to me and pulled me towards her.

"I had to make sure you were ready for it, Sora." I said and kissed her neck again.

"I'm – Ah! Always ready for you, Haru." Sora said in a husky voice, after which she used her free hand to bring my face close to hers. " _Fuck. Me. Now. Haru._ " She whispered to me, putting as much authority in her voice as possible. This was an _order_.

I smirked at Sora and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, before shifting my attention downwards. Sora was still gripping my hard member, and I brought my hand over hers. I guided my shaft to her entrance, but let go there. She had asked me to _fuck_ her, but I felt that it should ultimately still be her choice to do it. Not that I doubted what she would choose to do. Within moments, Sora had plunged me into her. I could never get enough of the feeling of utter bliss that entering my twin sister gave me. Even after we had fucked so many times before, Sora was still as tight as ever. That, combined with the deep love we felt for each other, and possibly our unique bond as twins resulted in the best feeling I had ever known in my life. Whenever we had sex, I knew Sora and I would be together for the rest of our lives, and nothing would separate us, ever. A broad smile appeared on my face as I thought of that.

"Oooooh yessss! Haru, your dick feels so good!" Sora whispered into my ear again. "Go on then, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me!"

I couldn't refuse my sister any more. As per her request, I started moving inside her. At first I went slowly, but I knew Sora wanted more, so I picked up my pace quite quickly. It had been far too long since we last had sex, I knew that know as I fucked Sora. As I pistoned myself in and out of her tight, wet pussy, I returned my mouth to her chest. Sora's breasts may not have been the largest, but I loved them all the same. I don't think she was self-conscious about their size, but if she was, she didn't show it. Nonetheless, I made sure to pay attention to them, as I knew it made her feel good.

"Fuck, I don't know- Ah! H-how I managed without thi- Ah! -without this for nearly a week. Right there, right there, Ah!" Sora's cries of pleasure filled the building, surpassing in volume both my grunts and the sound of flesh slapping against flesh. "Fuck, I'm gonna cum, Haru."

"It's been… a while so… I'm almost there… as well." I replied back between breaths.

"Yes! Give it to me. Let's do it together." Sora said and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me down on her. " _Give me what I want, Haru. Do it inside of me. I know you want to, you pervert._ " Sora whispered into my ear.

Sora's dirty talk was enough to bring me over the edge. I thrusted myself as deep inside of her as I could as my orgasm hit me. At the same time, I could feel Sora's body squirm and quiver underneath me while her insides clenched around me, signalling to me that she had reached her own orgasm as well. We held onto each other tightly as I released my backed-up cum deep inside of her, the sheer amount filling her to the brim, with a little bit of overflow. All I could think of in those few moments of extreme bliss was filling my twin sister's pussy with my cum. But as quickly as it came, it was gone. Sora laid on the bed, exhausted, while I laid on top of her, still firmly lodged inside of her, keeping most of my load inside of her. Neither one of us wanted to move, and I don't think we even could've if we wanted to.

"Haah… that was great, Haru..." Sora finally spoke up. "We should… do this… every day… from now on… I can't live… another day… without you inside me, Haru." She said between breaths and snuggled against me.

"I agree, Sora." I replied back to her, then kissed her softly on the cheek. "I love you, Sora."

"I love you too, Haru." Sora returned my kiss with one of her own on my nose. "So, ready for round two?" She then asked with a devious smile on her face.

"Haah, let me rest a bit first." I said and chuckled as I rolled off her onto the bed.

 _It'll be long before we actually "settle in" and unpack, huh?_ I thought to myself as I laid next to Sora on the bed. _Though I don't mind. I don't mind at all._

Neither of us could hear it, but just outside in the backyard, a car door was slammed shut, and soon after, said car drove away from the cottage, back towards civilization.

* * *

 **AN: Aaaaand done. This took a bit long to come out, but I was quite busy and didn't have the time I wanted to spend writing this. Plus, I started writing two other fanfictions at the same time.**

 **I know that there wasn't much that happened in this chapter (and I am not 100% happy with it myself), and I take all the blame for that. The way I write ("slow", with lots of attention to detail) is great for oneshots, but when I set a "word limit" of about 4-6k words per chapter for myself on longer stories, I can run into situations like this, where I'll reach said word limit without actually advancing the plot that much. I acknowledge this, and I will try my best to work around it in the future. I can say that the next chapter will have some more story development in it! I hope you all still enjoyed it!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** **Hello again, dear readers! Firstly, I want to slightly apologize for the lack of story progression in the previous chapter (though I'm sure you guys enjoyed the lemon at the end ;) lol). I mentioned it in the author's note at the bottom, but I do recognise my own weaknesses. One of them is laziness, but the other one is the way I write. I will try my best to work my way around that weakness in the future.**

 **As I promised last time, this chapter will have some actual plot progression in it, so don't you worry. I really love writing this story (and writing in general, as I'm currently working on _three_ fanfics!), and I hope you all enjoy reading it as well. I don't want to keep you any longer, so let's get to the chapter itself!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – Town Trip**

 _A single car drove past us as I rode the bike on the side of the road. It was the second car we had encountered. Sora clung to me tightly, the bike's chains creaking under our combined weight. I was hoping that the old bike would stay intact for long enough so we could make the trip back as well. Hideki's summer cottage wasn't too far away from Taivalkoski, but I didn't want to strain Sora too hard. This was a vacation for the both of us, after all._

"Haru..." My sister whispered my name into my ear and I brought the bike to a halt.

"What is it, Sora?" I asked as I turned to face her.

"Kiss me."

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"Well… Soon we'll be in… whatever this town was called, and there'll be other people around. I was just thinking that… you might not want me to be as… affectionate towards you in public." Sora trailed off slightly and I could see a bit of a frown forming on her face.

"Sora… _baka_." I said and kissed her long and hard. "That doesn't sound like you at all. Normally, you would _insist_ on acting affectionate towards me in public. 'What others think of us doesn't matter', and all that, right?" I continued after breaking the kiss.

"That's true, but..." Sora paused for a few moments before continuing. "I… I want to be the best for you, Haru. So that's why I'm… trying to think like you, so I can… please you. And I don't mean just in the bed." At first Sora seemed almost… nervous to tell me that, but it was replaced by a smirk as she finished.

"Sora..." I gently caressed my sister's cheek. "I'm glad that you're doing that, but you don't have to think like that right now. No-one here in Finland even knows we're related, other than Hideki, so you're free to express your affection towards me as much as you want. Even in public. As long as you don't showcase _how_ you'd please me in bed."

"Do you… really mean that? But won't people be able to figure out that we're related? We are twins, after all."

"Don't worry about it. To people living in America and Europe, all of us Asians probably look the same." I chuckled a little at my slightly racist joke. "To anyone who asks, we'll just be a ' _Young coupre_ '." I said the last part in English, doing a mock English accent, which elicited a giggle from Sora.

" _Young couple_ , huh?" Sora hugged me again tightly. "I can live with that."

I smiled and kissed Sora again before resuming my pedalling. I could see the town now, it wouldn't take long before we got there. It was around 3 pm, so we still had plenty of time to go around to shop and sightsee.

Just like Hideki had said yesterday, he came to visit us at 2 pm. First, he had shown me and Sora how the sauna worked, and we decided that we'd try it out tonight. Then he had gone around checking that everything was okay, something which he hadn't had time for yesterday because Sora wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. Sora hadn't minded his presence today, probably because our activities the night before had left her more than satisfied. I kept a close eye on Hideki the entire time he was with us, but I didn't see any signs that he had noticed us kissing. Even though both Sora and I had agreed that no-one had the right to judge us and our relationship, I wanted to keep it a secret from at least Hideki, for I didn't want to face the consequences should he find out. Best case scenario, he would simply abandon us, and we would have to either return to Japan, or try to survive here in Finland without his help. Worst case scenario, he might contact our remaining family, which could result in us getting separated. Once I had told Sora of my thoughts on the matter, she had agreed to keeping our relationship a secret from him, albeit slightly reluctantly. What she had just said to me meant that she had understood my reasoning behind it. I shook my head as I cleared my thoughts. There was no need to be so negative today. I smiled as I thought of the things the two of us would get up to on our vacation.

* * *

Taival… something or other, was much smaller than Okukozome, and that was saying something. The first thing Haru and I did was get something to eat at a cafe, as Hideki's visit had prevented Haru from cooking anything. I felt like he was interfering in our affairs on purpose. A part of me wanted to seduce Haru in front of him just so he would leave screaming, so we could finally be alone without him, but… What Haru had told me about the possible outcomes of him finding out made me sad and angry. But I knew that if it came to it, I would abandon any family the two of us had left. I only need Haru in my life.

"Sora! Could you see if you can find some rice? I'd like to cook something traditional tonight." Haru's voice brought me out of my gloomy thoughts. Just looking at his face brought a smile to my face. "Sora? Hello, are you with me?" Haru walked closer to me and waved a hand over my face.

"Hm? Oh, sorry. I'll go and have a look now."

After we had eaten, we came to this store Hideki had recommended. It was about the same size as the one back in Okukozome, which meant it wasn't very big, but it had all the necessities. I scanned around the aisles, hoping that my eyes would catch anything that remotely resembled rice. I didn't know a word of Finnish, and neither did Haru, so shopping was a little difficult, but at least Haru knew English much better than I did, so he could ask for help if he needed to. Haru had urged me to learn some more English before we had left, but I didn't feel like studying. _He knew enough, so why should I learn any at all? Baka Haru._ I pouted slightly as I looked around, my eyes finally seeing a picture of a bowl of rice on one of the packages. Unfortunately, it was located at the top shelf. I tried to reach for it, but the shelf was simply too tall, and I couldn't be bothered to strain myself.

"Haruuu!" I shouted my brother's name so he could come and help me. There weren't that many people in the store, but the couple that were near me gave me strange looks as I shouted. I gave them a glare in return.

As I was glaring at a woman, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair handing me the rice package I had failed to reach for. She smiled at me kindly as I slowly took the box from her hands.

" _You're welcome, miss._ " The girl said to me in English, before walking past me to another aisle. I could see that she was a little taller than I was, which explained how she managed to reach to the top shelf. _Is she mocking me? The bitch._

"What is it, Sora? You know you shouldn't shout like that." Haru said as he came up behind me.

"Nothing. I got the rice." I said and dropped the box into the shopping basket Haru was carrying.

"Alright, great. I think that should be about everything. This, combined with the stuff Hideki brought with him should be enough to last a week or so." Haru said as he calculated something with his fingers.

I simply nodded at him and took his free hand as we made our way to the register. Haru intertwined our fingers, and I couldn't suppress a smile forming on my face. It was at times like these when I felt the happiest. When I felt that the rest of the world could just disappear, and the only ones here were Haru and I, together, like we were meant to be. The happiness manifested as a feeling of warmth as I leaned my head on Haru's shoulder. This was true happiness. So was getting fucked by him, too. The smile on my face turned into a smirk as I thought of last night's events, and the plans I had for today. It didn't take long until it was our turn at the register.

"Hei!" Came the sound of the over-enthusiastic store clerk.

" _Uh, Hello!_ " Haru replied in English and started unloading the items in our basket onto the counter.

" _Tourist, yes?_ " The clerk asked. His accent was very odd, and I guessed that he didn't know much English.

" _Yes, we are tourists. Could I also have a..._ " Haru paused for a bit, probably trying to figure out the correct word. " _...Plastic bag? Yes, plastic bag._ "

The clerk simply looked at Haru and smiled. I got the feeling he didn't understand what Haru had asked for. Before Haru could ask again, I saw familiar locks of hair brush past me.

"Anteeksi..." The blonde girl walked up to the counter and started talking with the clerk. Soon after, the clerk pulled out a plastic bag with an apologetic smile on his face.

" _Ah, thank you for your help._ " Haru said to the girl in English.

" _You're welcome."_ The girl smiled at Haru. I felt disgusted. " _I can translate for you, if you want. He isn't very good at English."_

" _Yes, please. We'll take any help we can get._ " My eye twitched. This girl was getting on my nerves.

"Haru." I said and tugged my brother's sleeve. As he turned to look at me, I glared at him.

"I think I know what you're thinking." Haru whispered to me and sighed. "But we need the help, okay?"

"Fine." I mumbled and looked away from him. My eyes met the girl's, who had an inquisitive look on her face.

I kept my gaze on the girl the entire time she helped us finish our shopping. She didn't seem to care about my glaring, only smiling to me in return. _I don't know what this bitch is planning, but I won't let it get between me and Haru. He. Belongs. To. Me._ I thought to myself as we finally exited the store, leaving the blonde behind.

"It was lucky that we ran into her, we would've probably been in trouble without her language skills." Haru said as he placed our purchases into the basket at the front of the bike.

"...Yeah, sure." I mumbled as I walked over to the bike.

"Don't be all gloomy like that." Haru said and ruffled my hair. "I like it much better when you smile."

"How can I smile when another girl is acting all friendly with _my_ Haru?"

"Come on, she was just being helpful. You know you're the only girl for me, Sora." Haru said and kissed me briefly on the lips. He smiled at me, which made my smile return as well.

"Ah, _Kon'nichiwa!_ " A voice called out to us from behind. It was obvious the speaker _wasn't_ Japanese.

I turned around to find the source of the voice, while Haru leaned to the side from behind me. My eye twitched as the only person I could see was the blonde who had helped us. She had just walked out of the store herself, and was carrying her shopping bag with a disgustingly bright smile on her face.

"Kon'nichiwa." Haru replied to her. "You know Japanese?"

The girl thought for a brief moment before responding. "Enough to have conversations with native speakers, but I'm more fluent in English." The girl walked up to us and Haru moved from behind me to next to me.

"That's fine, I'm pretty good at English. Ah, but thanks for your help earlier. I appreciate it."

"Not a problem. Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Maria, nice to meet you!" The blonde bowed her head slightly. It seemed like she knew more about Japan than just the language.

"Ah, yes, of course. My name is Kasugano Haruka, and this is..." Before Haru could finish, I pulled his face down and covered his mouth.

" _Young. Couple._ " I whispered into his ear.

"Oh, I thought you seemed familiar at the register. I helped with the rice package, didn't I." Maria said and took a few moments to look at both of us. "Are you two siblings? Your eyes and hair are the same, as well as your facial features."

I flinched at her question. _This bitch is more perceptive than she looks. Ugh, why did the first person we run into have be her!_

"Uhhh..." Haru looked at me, as if to ask what I wanted to answer. I rolled my eyes and gave a defeated sigh as an answer.

"Yes, we are. Twins, to be exact. I'm Sora. Nice to meet you, yada yada." I said and leaned on the bike.

"Sora and Haruka, huh? Those are some lovely names. And fitting, too, for twins." Maria finished with another disgustingly bright smile. "What are you planning on doing after this?"

"I was thinking we could go around and sightsee for a bit, then maybe eat something before heading back to where we're staying. Don't want to spend too long so the food remains in prime condition." Haru said and raised the plastic bag from the basket slightly. "Ultimately though, it depends on Sora what we do. She might want to go back early." Haru continued and patted me on the head, giving my hair a few strokes. I could feel a smile forming on my face.

Maria kept the smile on her on face as she took a few moments to answer. "I don't think there's much to sightsee in Taivalkoski, but I could recommend a place to eat. In fact, I could tag along with you two, if you don't mind." I could hear that she was struggling a little with her speech. _Trying your best to impress Haru with your language skills, are we? Keep trying, bitch._

"I don't mind, but I don't know about Sora… But, you said you're more fluent in English, right? Would it be better for you if we spoke in English instead?"

"Ah, well, yes it would be. I just don't get to use Japanese a lot, so this is great practice." Maria explained, then continued in English. " _But English is much better, if you don't mind speaking it, of course._ "

" _Oh, I don't mind speaking English. It'll be… good practice for me as well. Sora isn't that great with English, though._ " As if on cue, Haru switched into talking in English as well.

" _You're not great with English?_ " Maria asked and turned to look at me. " _I could teach you, if you want._ " Another bright smile made its way onto her face. I wanted to punch it off her face. _Just leave us alone, will you!_

" _I know the basics._ " I huffed and turned away from her. " _And that's enough. I have Haru with me, I don't need to know more._ " I reinforced my point by grabbing onto Haru's arm.

"Awwww, you two are so cute!" Maria reverted back to Japanese briefly. " _It_ _'s fine_ _if you think that way_ _, but you won't be able to cling onto your brother forever!_ " She then continued in English and winked at me. I didn't quite understand what she meant with her statement, so I turned to Haru, who just laughed awkwardly.

" _So, about you coming along with us..._ " Haru said and rubbed the back of his neck before turning to look at me. "Is it okay if she comes with us? A guide would probably be useful." He then said to me in Japanese.

I simply looked at Haru with a blank expression, then glanced back at Maria.

"You mean… she'd _actually_ come with us?" I raised my voice slightly.

"It wouldn't be for too long. A couple hours at max. Come on, Sora, do it for me. I'd like to know more about the place from a local." Haru smiled at me slightly apologetically.

I sighed deeply before answering him. "...Fine. But, you have to promise to _make it up for me_ when we get back." I finished with a smirk and poked Haru on the cheek.

"I promise. Though I don't know how I'll make it up to you, since I was planning on doing _that_ anyway." Haru was the one who smirked now. I burst out laughing immediately as he finished.

"Hm? What's so funny?" Maria asked.

"Oh, Haru. You're always scolding me but look at you now." I paused briefly before continuing. "Right, if we're gonna go somewhere, let's go. I need to see what my brother comes up with when we get back."

Maria didn't question us further, and we went on our way. As she had said, there wasn't much to see here, but Haru seemed to enjoy it. He was acting all nice around Maria, and it made my stomach churn. I knew he was just being himself, but I knew what effect he had on women. Maria took us around town and to a couple of shops. Haru bought a few souvenirs, but that was about it. The two of them talked quite a bit, as Maria was very talkative. I only replied when it was necessary, as I didn't want to talk with the bitch at all. Mostly they spoke in English, so I couldn't have joined the conversation even if I wanted to. My anger was slowly building up as what was supposed to be a shopping trip for the two of us turned into… whatever this was. Finally, we made our way to a pizzeria for some much needed food. Maria had to translate all the possible toppings for us, and we ended up buying two pizzas, one for Maria and one for me and Haru to share.

"So, you two are all alone then. Again, I'm sorry about your parents." Maria said and bowed as we sat down to wait for our pizzas. She had inquired about our parents earlier, and was supposedly terribly sorry for "bringing back bad memories", to which both Haru and I had simply shook our heads to. _There never were bad memories, and if there were, the memories we've made together have replaced them_.

"Don't be sorry, it's fine. But, yeah, it's just the two of us. But by no means are we alone, we've got each other." Haru said and smiled as he put a hand on my shoulder. I smiled back and placed my own hand over his.

"You two really are close, aren't you… makes me kind envious." _Why would it make you envious, you bitch? I knew she was after Haru._ "Though in your case it is understandable. I'd probably be in the same situation with my brother if our parents suddenly died."

"You mentioned your brother earlier as well. I… kinda want to know more about him. Or, the… _bond_ that you two have, so to speak." Haru awkwardly scratched his cheek as he said that. _Hah, very clever, Haru._ I thought and poked him in the side while grinning mischievously.

"Of course! Martti is my little brother, he's five years younger than I am." _That would make him 12, because Maria was the same age as us. Of course she was._ "He's just the cutest little brother ever! _Wait, am I weird for thinking that?_ " Maria blushed slightly and covered her mouth. I had to process what she had said for a few moments. _Damn her and her English skills. If you like Japan as much as you seem to, why not learn more of the language?_

" _No, you're not_." I replied in English. "Nothing weird at all in finding your siblings… _cute_." I continued and smirked. I glanced at Haru and could see the faintest hint of a blush on his cheeks. _Mission accomplished._

"Yeah, you're right. Some of my friends have teased me about it, but I've always brushed it off. Anyway, Martti is a great little brother. However, these days I don't get to see him that often because of..." She paused for a moment before continuing in English. " _Because of my studies. I moved away from home a year ago, and I've only seen him during the holidays. I know that he's always happy to see me, though. We were very close when we were younger._ "

" _I think you should try to see him more often. Sora and I were often separated when we were young, which is why we're so close now. Keeping up your… relationships with your siblings is important._ "

" _Yeah, I think will try to do that. He's such a sweetheart of a brother, relying on his onee-chan._ " Maria said and giggled. " _I remember one time a few years ago he was getting bullied because all he talked about was me. When I heard about it, I came to his school one day and set those bullies straight. They never bothered my him after that._ " Maria had a big smile on her face the entire time she talked about her brother. I didn't understand half of what she said, and honestly I did not care, but she seemed to care about her brother a lot.

While Maria was telling Haru about her little brother, our pizzas arrived. Haru cut a piece and checked if it was hot, before cutting me a piece. When Haru put his piece down to drink, I snatched it from his hands and ate the whole thing, then smirked at him.

"Come on, Sora. I was in the middle of eating that. I'll cut you a piece if you want to."

"You were too slow. You should know I'm not that patient." I huffed at him, faking my anger.

"You know… That's an indirect kiss, isn't it?" Maria said from the other side of the table.

"And? We've done worse, you know." I said and took a sip from my own drink.

As soon as I said that, Haru nearly choked on his drink.

"S-Sora!" He managed to blurt out after catching his breath.

"Hm? What do you mean by that, Sora?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sure Haru can answer that." I said and smirked.

"Sora means something that happened when… we were little." _And what happened last night._ I thought as Haru paused and rubbed the back of his neck. "We… kissed each other once."

"Oh, alright. That's not so bad, you shouldn't be ashamed of it." Maria said and smiled. "These things happen. I've kissed my little brother, though never on the lips."

"You're… not judging it? I'm glad. Not everyone sees it the same way." _Haru, you sneaky devil. If only Maria knew what you truly mean with that._ I thought and smirked again as I took another slice of pizza into my mouth.

" _As I said, it's no big deal. Sorry if I offend you, but I know you Japanese are very 'shy' when it comes to that sort of thing, but in Europe, kissing isn't out of the ordinary. Some cultures even use it as a greeting. Some people may dislike family members doing it, but a kiss is just a kiss, right? But I'm definitely not one of those people. Besides, I..._ " Maria trailed off and paused at the end. Haru raised an eyebrow at her. " _Ah, nothing. But like, yeah, don't worry about it._ " I didn't understand everything, but she had just… avoided something she was about to say.

We ate the rest of our pizzas while chatting away meaninglessly. Soon enough, our plates were empty and we were standing outside the pizzeria. We had spent quite a bit of time in town, as it was already getting a bit late, but the sun was still out in the sky.

" _I guess this is where we part ways, then._ " Maria said to us as we got ready to leave.

" _Yeah. But I did enjoy this. Thanks, Maria._ " Haru replied with a smile. " _I hope we can meet up the next time we come here._ "

" _I hope so too, it was great fun hanging out with you two. I'll see you around!_ " Maria waved at us as she started walking down the street.

Haru waved back at her and got on the bike. I sat down on the rack and wrapped my arms around him as we took off.

"..Did you really mean that." I aske Haru once we had gotten a suitable distance away from the pizzeria.

"Mean what?"

"That you hope we'll be able to meet up again with her."

"Oh, are you worried about that? Don't worry. I was just being polite to her. She's the only Finn we've managed to befriend so far, and she genuinely was nice to have around."

"Really now?" I said in an irritated voice.

"Baka Sora." Haru said and stopped the bike, turning to face me. "Of course I like your company much more. Now that I know Taivalkoski a little better, we can come here together again, and spend time like a young couple." Haru drove his point home by kissing me long and deep.

"Is that how you plan on making up for today? Because you're going to have to try harder than that."

"Damn, I guess do have to try then." Haru said and laughed. "I'll make it up to you, like I promised."

"You better do. Or else I'm going to _punish_ you." I said and smirked.

Haru swallowed but then laughed afterwards. He kissed me again as we left for Hideki's summer cottage. I already had plans for tonight, especially regarding the sauna. Hideki had told us all about how it worked, and Haru was eager to try it out. Ever since then, I had been planning the best way to use the sauna to my advantage in seducing him. I couldn't wait until we got back and I could set my plans into action. Tonight was going to be _fun_. Most likely even more fun than yesterday had been.

* * *

 **AN: And that's that done. For anyone reading this around the time I've released this, Hapy holidays! I hope everyone has a great X-mas, as well as a good new year. Because I'm a lazy bum with no social life, I'll be spending the holidays writing fanfictions. Also watching Anime, but that's a given. The next chapter might take a little while, however, as I have two other stories to work on, and I need to figure something out on how to continue this story the way I want to continue it.**

 **Feedback is appreciated, but not necessary.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Heya! This chapter took quite a long time to publish, I know, and I apologise for that. It boils down to three reasons: Firstly, I wanted to update (or publish, in the case of the other one) the two other stories I'm working on, since I had some good ideas for them. Secondly, I didn't really have any ideas for what to do with this next chapter. I know what I want to do, but I don't want to rush the story. And thirdly, I'm lazy. That's about it, lol. But I will try to get a grip on myself, as I do really like writing all three of my currently ongoing stories.**

 **This chapter also contains lemons, so be prepared for them!**

 **Without further ado, let's get to it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – The Concert**

 _Toozakaru kumo no aima…_

The sound of my new ringtone caused me to jump a little as I was preparing breakfast. I placed the frying pan on the stove and picked up the phone from the table. Glancing at the caller ID before answering, I could see Hideki's name on the screen.

"Good morning, Hideki-kun." I said and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a little past 10, so it wasn't too late to say "good morning", yet.

"Ah, good morning, Haruka-kun. Is it just me or do you sound a bit more cheery today?" Hideki asked.

"Well, maybe a little. After our little trip to Taivalkoski the other day, Sora and I have gotten to… spend some time together, and it has been great for the both of us." I glanced at my sister, who was still sleeping on the large double bed in the corner of the cottage.

"Great to hear that you two are getting along! I said it before, but I really am kinda jealous of you two. I always wished for a sibling when I was young, but alas, not all wishes are granted."

"Yeah, you've said something like that. But, I don't think you called just to tell me that again."

"Of course. You see, I happened to acquire three tickets to a concert that's held in Oulu in four days. I thought that if you two wanted, we could go see the concert together."

"Oulu? That's... a city to the west of here, right? A coastal one?"

"Precisely. It's takes about the same time to drive there from Taivalkoski than it does to drive to my summer cottage from here. The concert is in the evening, so we could go there earlier during the day and go sightseeing. What do you say?"

"I'm up for it, but I'll have to ask Sora when she wakes up. I'm making breakfast for us at the moment." I used my free hand to flip over the egg I was frying on the pan.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it then. Call me when you two have figured out an answer. I hope you do come, though, as it would be a shame to put these tickets to waste! Oh, and say hello to Sora-chan for me!" I could practically hear Hideki's smile.

"I will. Talk to you later, then!"

After the call ended, I placed my phone back on the table and returned my focus to the breakfast. Fried eggs, bacon, and some sandwiches should suffice. After our trip to Taivalkoski, we hadn't really left the cottage at all. Sora's laziness must have been rubbing off onto me. But it wasn't like there was loads of things to do, and I was content with just spending time with Sora. And despite her occasional complaints about the lack of internet, I knew my sister felt the same. At the very least, she was happy about the amount of sex we had on a daily basis. Sora was definitely the more "needy" one out of the two of us, but it just showed how much she loved me. And I couldn't complain about it, even if I wanted to.

After finishing with breakfast and putting everything neatly on the table, I set out to wake up Sora. She had been completely exhausted last night, despite being the one to take the initiative. That, combined with the fact that she is quite lazy resulted in her sleeping this late. Not that it's out of the ordinary for her to sleep late normally. I climbed onto the bed and lightly nudged Sora in an attempt to wake her up.

"Sora. It's morning already. I've made us breakfast." I said as I shook her shoulders.

"Haruuuuu..." Sora mumbled my name in her sleep and turned to her other side.

"Sora, wake up. Hideki called me and told me to say hello to you. I need to ask you something, as he's given us a chance to do something fun together." I shook Sora a bit more forcefully, but still lightly.

"Mmmmmm… something like last night..?" Sora mumbled and turned again, but kept her eyes shut.

"Heh, not quite, no. Come on, I'll tell you about it while we eat breakfast. I've got bacon and fried eggs, with some stuff to make sandwiches with. You'll love it." I gently caressed my sister's cheek and smiled to myself.

"What if I want… _something else_ for breakfast..?" Sora's sleeping face twisted into a smirk as she grabbed my by the hand and dragged me fully onto the bed with her.

"Sora..? What do you..?" Sora cut me off by pressing her lips to mine. Not long after that, she invaded my mouth with her tongue.

"For breakfast..." Sora said as she broke the kiss and opened her eyes to stare into my own. Her grey eyes were filled with lust. "...I want Haru's… _bodily fluids_." She finished by licking her lips, before attacking me with her tongue again.

Sora didn't waste any time. While she was using her tongue to mix our saliva together, her hand trailed down and found my pants. Still keeping our mouths connected, she undid my belt and pulled down my pants along with my underwear, exposing my hardening member to the elements. She started to slowly jerk me with one hand, while another hand grabbed my hand and brought it to her chest. I decided to play along with her, and started to grope her breasts. Once my member was fully erect, she broke the kiss to catch her breath.

"You're quite assertive this morning, aren't you? Alright, you've got me, but you have to be quick about it, the food will get cold otherwise." I said as Sora positioned herself so that her head was right above my groin, while she presented her ass to me.

"Don't worry, I'll make you cum _buckets_ in no time at all. _Itadakimasu~!_ " Sora said before devouring the entirety of my length with her mouth in one go.

"Gah! S-Sora." I grunted in response.

Sora had gotten really good at servicing me with her mouth. She sucked along the whole length, while simultaneously moving her tongue around to bring me even more pleasure. But of course I couldn't be the only one to feel good. Sora's panties were right in front of my face, and I used my left hand to move them to the side, revealing her wet snatch to me.

" _Itadakimasu_ , I guess." I said and reached out with my tongue towards her clit.

As soon as my tongue made contact with her clit, her whole body jerked. _Was she really not expecting that?_ I started to slowly lick her, causing Sora to let out a moan, the vibrations caused by it feeling heavenly, as my member was still deep inside her mouth. I brought my right hand up and inserted a finger into her pussy, moving it in and out, matching the rhythm at which Sora sucked me. We kept our pace for a couple of minutes, Sora stopping every now and then to catch her breath. Her technique was too much for me too bear, and I soon found myself very close to orgasm.

"Sora! I'm getting close!" I said as I paused my licking briefly, but returned my attention to her clit soon enough.

"Gwhood. Lhed id ahll ouhd in mhy mhoudh!" Sora said to me, barely comprehensible with her mouth full of my dick.

She increased her pace, and I matched my finger to the same speed. I was already close before she started going this fast, so I didn't last long.

"Sora! H-here it comes!"

I barely got the full sentence out before I reached orgasm. As soon as the first spurt of my cum erupted into my sister's mouth, Sora came as well, her inner walls clamping down on my finger as her juices flowed all over my face. Sora kept my entire length inside her mouth the entire time as ropes and ropes of my cum were released into her mouth. She was struggling to keep it all in her mouth, though I could feel her swallowing as much as she could. After my orgasm subsided, Sora released my member from her mouth. She coughed a couple of times after swallowing my seed, then licking off everything she couldn't initially swallow, before turning to look at me.

"That was a tasty breakfast, Haru." She said as she licked her fingers.

"Haaaah… I'm glad you liked it. So, how about we clean up and start on the _actual_ breakfast? Hopefully it'll still be warm." I said as I used my hand to wipe some of Sora's love juices from my face.

" _Haaaaaaiiiiiii._ " Sora said and got up from the bed, grabbing a paper towel from the roll to wipe her face with on the way to where I had laid out the breakfast.

I sighed and chuckled to myself as Sora tossed the towel aside when she sat down. I followed her, using some water and an actual towel to wash my face, before sitting down next to Sora. She had already take some bacon and a fried egg onto her plate, and was happily munching on it.

"Is it still warm?" I asked, to which Sora simply nodded. "I'm glad. Looks like I made the right call with the aluminium foil, then." I glanced over at the plates of bacon and eggs I had placed, and saw that Sora had barbaricly torn the foil over the plates. _Looks like she was actually hungry, and that previous "breakfast" wasn't enough._ I chuckled a little at my thoughts, causing Sora to look at me with a curious expression.

"What?" My sister asked as she narrowed her eyes and paused her chewing.

"Oh, nothing. _Itadakimasu._ " I grabbed a plate and placed some bacon on it along with a fried egg. Tasting it, I could confirm what Sora had said, as the food had indeed kept warm.

"You said Hideki called you. What did he want?" Sora said after finishing her fried egg.

"Oh, yes. He told me he acquired three tickets to a concert held in Oulu four days from now, and was wondering if we'd like to go with him." I explained to Sora.

"A concert? Four days… so on Sunday? Would we even understand anything they sing?" Sora asked as she stabbed another fried egg with her fork and placed it onto her plate.

"Well, probably not, but I think It'd be a nice experience, at least. And we could go sightseeing around town before the concert starts."

"Hmmm… I don't know about this..."

"Come on, Sora." I said and playfully ruffled my sister's hair. "You've been saying that there's not much to do here, so going to this concert might be a nice change of pace."

Sora paused eating and sighed, before taking on a thoughtful look for a few moments. She then took my hand and looked me straight in the eyes.

"...Alright. You'd like to go there, wouldn't you? Fine, tell him we'll go with him." Sora said, looking defeated, but I could see a hint of a smile on her face.

"Thanks, Sora. I'm sure it'll be fun for the both of us. I'll call him after I've finished eating."

We didn't talk much after that, just ate together. Sora finished before I did and went straight back to lay down on the bed. I finished up and put the remaining food into the fridge, then picked up my phone and dialled Hideki's number. It didn't take long for him to answer me.

"Hello, Haruka-kun! Did you two decide whether you're going to come with me or not?" Hideki went straight to the point.

"Yes, we did. Sora and I will come with you to the concert. I'll assume you'll drive us there?"

"Well, yes, but I was thinking that since it's quite a long drive, I could spend a night there and then we could all leave together the next morning, if that's alright with you?"

"That sounds fine to me, but I'll ask Sora before promising anything." I said and headed back to the bed, where was laying down, her eyes closed. "Sora." I said to get her attention.

"What." She opened one of her eyes and looked at me.

"Since the concert is on Sunday, Hideki-kun thought that it would be for the best if he spent a night here, so we could drive to Oulu together on Sunday morning."

"And? It's his cottage, he can come and go as he pleases." Sora said and turned to her side. "Not that I would _want_ him to be here, but I'll have to tolerate him for now." She then mumbled.

I smiled to myself and let out a small sigh before raising the phone back to my ear.

"Sora has no problems with it, so you're free to come here on Saturday. I'll prepare the sofa for you so you can sleep on it."

"Great! I'll bring some food and a new canister of water for you two at the same time. I'll probably be there sometime at late afternoon, so see you then!"

"Yeah, see you on Saturday." I replied and ended the call.

I put the phone back onto the table and went back to the bed that Sora was laying down on. I sat down next to her and started stroking her hair.

"Are you… mad at me for something? I can still cancel if you don't want to go to the concert." I asked her, and Sora turned around to face me.

"No, I'm not mad. I was just thinking..." Sora bit her lip and paused briefly. "...About how long we're going to keep hiding this from him."

"'This'? You mean… our relationship?" Sora nodded as an answer.

"Maybe… Maybe this will be a good time to… tell him. I know you said that he might not approve, but… I'm tired of hiding it from him. The whole point of this trip was to not hide our feelings any more. I've been trusting your judgement so far, but..." I placed a finger on Sora's mouth to silence her.

"I get you, Sora. Maybe you're right." I said and laid down next to her. "Let's do it after the concert, okay? If he doesn't approve of us, then… we'll figure something out." I turned to look at Sora and kissed her on the lips gently.

"Thank you, Haru. I love you."

"I love you too, Sora."

We clutched onto each other tightly on the bed as I kissed Sora again, this time more passionately. It would take long before we would disentangle from each other and leave the bed for that day.

* * *

 _Sunday Morning_

"Sora-chan! Haruka-kun! Rise and shine!" Hideki's more than necessarily loud voice stirred me awake from my sleep. I opened my eyes and noticed that I was currently spooning Haru. His warmth felt nice, but the feeling was short-lived, as Haru woke up to Hideki's shout as well.

"Hideki-kun? What time is it?" Haru asked as he rose up while rubbing his eyes, disentangling us in the process.

"Ten thirty, a good time to wake up! I've already made breakfast, but didn't want to wake up you two, as you looked so cute sleeping together like that." Hideki said and flashed one of his bright smiles. I felt a slight blush coming onto my cheeks.

"Heh, Sora's been doing that for most of the time we've been here. She doesn't want to leave her beloved brother's side, it seems." Haru said and chuckled as he ruffled my hair with his hand. _He handled that quite well. I guess he_ _really_ _is waiting for the concert before telling_ _Hideki._

"...Baka Haru." I muttered, which elicited a laugh from both of them.

"Well, get up you two. As I said, I've made breakfast, and we can leave as soon as you're finished with it. It's a two-hour drive to Oulu, so we will have plenty of time to sightsee before the concert."

Haru and I did as he asked and got up from bed. Just as planned, Hideki had arrived here yesterday and had slept the night here on the couch. Because of that, Haru and I had refrained from sex, and I actually had more than just my underwear on when I went to bed. I was already missing the feeling of him inside me, but I would have to wait until tonight. Although that depended entirely on what would happen after we told Hideki about our relationship. We decided that we would tell him about it after the concert was over and we would be back here. I had told myself that this was the best way, as I didn't want to hide our relationship, no matter what society thought of us, but at the same time, I had a slight feeling of dread at what Hideki would do when he found out.

"What's the matter, Sora-chan?" Hideki's voice shook me out of my thoughts. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Huh?" I looked at the empty plate in front of me and realized I must have sat down at the table without noticing it. "I will. I was just thinking about stuff." I shook my head lightly and took a bit of toast as well as some salmon onto my plate. "Itadakimasu."

Hideki had brought with him some ingredients to make a more traditional Japanese breakfast for us. Both him and Haru were currently sipping on some miso soup, and there was a tasty-looking piece of salmon on both of their plates. Hideki had also provided some toast (I guessed he must have "toasted" it using the stove), as well as an assortment of vegetables to go with our more traditional foods. I was not complaining, though. Haru had made things like curry for us while we had been here, but with the ingredients not being "authentic", this was a welcome change. Hideki was the first to finish, with Haru and I not being too far behind him.

"Are the two of you excited? There's plenty more stuff to see in Oulu than there is in Taivalkoski. Other than the concert, of course." Hideki asked us as we were putting away everything.

"I'm definitely excited. Always great to see new things." Haru answered as he was cleaning the utensils.

"How about you, Sora-chan?" Hideki turned to me and flashed me one of his disgustingly bright smiles.

"...I guess so. As long as I'm with Haru, I'm sure I'll be able to enjoy it." I replied and plopped down onto the bed.

"Always so cold, Sora-chan. Unless the matter concerns your brother, that is."

"...What do you mean by that?" I asked and glared at him.

"Nothing in particular. Anyway, are you two ready to leave now? We've got a long drive ahead of us, and I'd like to get it started!"

"I'm ready whenever Sora is." Haru said and smiled at me.

"Haru..." I stared into his eyes for a few moments before jumping off the bed. "Let's get this over with. I'll change into something else."

I motioned for Hideki to get out, and to my surprise, he _silently_ agreed to it. He glanced back and smiled at me again as he opened the door to leave. I briefly heard him say something about starting the car. I looked back at Haru and walked over to him, before embracing him tightly.

"Sora..? What's wrong?" Haru asked as he wrapped his arms around me.

"...Nothing. I just wanted to hug you." I replied and looked up at him, before kissing him deeply.

"...We'll be fine, Sora. Now, let's enjoy our day, shall we?" Haru said and stroked my head after I broke the kiss.

I nodded back at him and proceeded to change out of my nightgown. Haru also changed into some more comfortable clothes, but it didn't take him that long to do. I didn't bring many clothes with me, so I had little to choose from. I decided to go for the white dress I wore any time I was out, and even when I was home. I liked it, and so did Haru, so it was the perfect choice. After we had finished changing, we left the cottage. Haru locked the door with his key and we made our way to the backyard, where Hideki's car was waiting for us. We both climbed into the back seat and set out for our two-hour drive to Oulu.

* * *

"Sora." Haru lightly shook my shoulders as I was brought out of my pleasant dreams.

"...Haru..?" I mumbled and yawned, still keeping my eyes closed as I snuggled against what I presumed was Haru.

"We're here, Sora. Wake up."

"We're… where?" I groggily asked and reluctantly opened my eyes.

"Oulu. Hideki is looking for a place to park his car. We've got quite a few hours to go around the city before the concert." Haru explained to me as he ruffled my hair.

"Oh, right. I remember now." I yawned again as I rubbed my still-sleepy eyes.

I glanced out the window and was greeted with a sight I hadn't really seen since we had arrived in Finland – a bustling city. Oulu was much more lively than Taivalkoski, though I got the feeling it wasn't as big as the capital had been. Still, after Okukozume and Taivalkoski, nearly anything seemed like a big city. While the time I had spent with Haru in these remote locations had shown me that small towns had their charm, I still preferred large cities. Although Tokyo could be quite a hassle sometimes, I had to admit.

After a couple minutes, Hideki managed to find a place where he could park his car for the day. It meant that we would most likely go around town by foot, but as long as Haru was with me, I felt like I could do anything.

"Ah, it's been a while since I've been to Oulu. So, the concert starts at 5 pm, so we've got about 4 hours to sightsee. Anything in particular you two want to go to?" Hideki asked as we exited the car.

"Not really. I don't know much about the city anyway. You're free to lead the way." Haru replied to Hideki.

"...I don't care. I'll go wherever Haru goes." I replied and moved next to Haru.

"Hmmm… Well, there's the Art Museum, though I'm not sure if you two would be interested in that. Then there's… the Botanical Garden, The Science Centre, and various other places. Honestly, we could just walk around for a couple hours and still see various things, before having something to eat." Hideki explained to us.

"The Science Centre sounds like fun, but I agree with you, walking around might seem like a good idea too, although..." Haru trailed off and turned to look at me with a slightly concerned look on his face. _Haru… always looking out for me… I could kiss him right now, but that might startle Hideki._

"I'll be fine, I'm with you, Haru." I said and latched onto his arm. "If I collapse, you can _carry_ me around town."

"Hah! Great to have such a reliable brother, right, Sora-chan?" Hideki said and laughed a bit, before putting a hand on my shoulder and looking at me straight in the eyes. "In all seriousness, though, if you aren't feeling well or are tired, don't hesitate to tell us. We'll take a break." He said and smiled at me. _I don't need you to be nice to me. I've already got Haru to do that._

"...Sure. Let's go then. The Science Centre, was it? Let's go there first." I replied and tugged Haru's arm slightly.

"Alright, Sora-chan. Let's go!"

With Hideki leading us, we left for the Science Centre. I wasn't particularly interested in it, but it sounded better than boring plants or art. _What Haru and I do every night? Now_ that's _art._ Hideki explained to us that the name of the Science Centre, "Tietomaa", translated to something like "Knowledge Land". I thought the name was quite dumb, but Haru liked it, so I didn't voice my opinion on it. The place didn't look that impressive from the outside, so I wasn't expecting much from the inside either. Hideki was willing to pay for our tickets, since they were cheaper than his ticket, as we technically were not 18 years of age, yet. When we got inside the Science Centre, I was quite surprised. The blandness of the outside hid a magnificent inside. The place had various exhibitions showcasing different fields of science and technology via hands-on attractions. Hideki explained everything we came across, and we even tested a few of them. It was quite fun to go around and try out everything, but I didn't want to say that out loud. The place was quite crowded, both with tourists and locals, and a couple of them gave Haru and I strange looks. Or, at least I interpreted them that way. _What? You never seen Japanese people before? I thought this_ _country_ _was a popular spot for vacation_ _s_ _…_

"What do you think? Isn't this place fun?" Hideki asked us as I was glaring at a passerby.

"It is. I didn't quite expect this, even with your explanation of the place. Wouldn't you agree, Sora?" Haru replied, then turned to look at me.

"I guess it's been fun. Better than I expected, at least."

"Would you two like to go up the Tower? The view of the city is gorgeous up there." Hideki asked and motioned towards a sign that said something or other in Finnish.

"Why not. Come on, let's go, Sora." Haru grabbed my hand and gently pulled me towards him as we started to make our way to where Hideki was guiding us.

 _Baka Haru. He's going to make me all flustered if he keeps doing this like this. But… I don't mind it._ I thought and smiled as I interlocked our fingers.

Hideki led us to a glass elevator that took us up the tower, which supposedly once served as a water tower, according to Hideki. He wasn't lying about the view, though. The view was quite pretty, even just from the elevator. Soon we arrived at the top, where a multitude of tourists were taking pictures of the cityscape below. Among the crowd, I could hear someone speaking Japanese.

"Look, isn't the view beautiful, Hachi?" A female voice said. Looking in the direction of the voice, I could spot a young woman, probably around the same age as us, if a little older, with long, raven-black hair. Standing next to him, hands in his pockets, with a slight hunch was a boy with short, black hair. My eyes were drawn to the curious ahoge that he had sticking out of his head.

"Hmm? Yeah, I guess so." The boy replied, to which the girl simply sighed.

"Seriously. Isn't it at times like these you're supposed to go 'Oh, but you're much more beautiful~!' or something?" The girl asked while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Gah, leave that stuff to the _riajuus_." The boy turned slightly to look at the girl, just enough so I could see his eyes. They looked… _dead_. "Besides, what if I told you I couldn't give a proper answer to your question because I wasn't paying any attention to the view of the city?"

"What… do you mean by that? What else would you be looking at?" The girl asked, raising an eyebrow.

"At you, of course." The boy replied and a smirk appeared on his face. "Gah, that felt like such a _riajuu_ thing to say… Although… it's… true to some extent..." The boy awkwardly scratched his cheek and turned away, inadvertently causing our gazes to meet for a split second, before he quickly averted his gaze.

"Hachi..." The girl said while looking at the boy, with a healthy blush on her cheeks. "What should I do with you? You may be rotten to the core, but you know just the right things to say sometimes..."

"Hey, I'm not completely rotten to the core. I've got you, after all, Yuki." The boy replied. _What weird nicknames they've given each other. "Eight" and "Snow", huh?_

"Sora-chan? Do you like the view?" Hideki suddenly asked me.

"Huh? O-oh. Yeah, it's… nice. I guess." I replied and glanced back at the couple I was observing. Hearing Hideki speak Japanese to me must have piqued their attention, too, as I caught both of them looking in my direction.

"Sora? Is something wrong?" Haru asked as he turned to me. He must have noticed where I had glanced, as he raised an eyebrow and looked past me towards the couple.

"Hm? Oh, you two are Japanese, aren't you? _Kon'nichiwa_!" Hideki had also noticed where we were looking and waved his hand as he greeted the couple.

" _K-Kon'nichiwa_." The girl replied awkwardly with a small wave of her hand, while the boy remained silent and motionless. Our eyes met again, if only for a brief moment.

"Come on Yuki, let's go." The boy then said, barely audible to the three of us. The girl replied with a small nod and took his hand as they started to descend down the stairs. Before they disappeared from sight, the girl looked at me, and our eyes met. Compared to the boy's seemingly dead eyes, hers were a beautiful blue colour.

"Huh, I guess they didn't want to chat, then. What a shame, I always enjoy chatting with Japanese tourists who have come to Finland." Hideki said after they were gone.

"To me it looked like they were here to get some… _alone time_. It was probably for the best that you didn't bother them." I said to Hideki, taking Haru's hand at the same time and grasping it tightly. _I could do with some_ alone time _with Haru right now._

"Hmmm..? Well, you may be right, Sora-chan. We should probably head down soon, too. The staircase that goes down is also part of the exhibition. Unless you want to take the elevator."

"I think we should take the elevator. I agree with Sora, in that we shouldn't pester other people, even if they are our fellow countrymen." Haru said and motioned towards the elevator, which just brought up another group of people.

"Heh, I guess you two are right. Come on then, hurry, before the elevator goes down again."

We quickly made our way to the elevator and rode it down, taking in the view again. There was no sign of the couple at the bottom when we arrived. _They must have already gone somewhere else, or they were still coming down the staircase._ When Hideki checked the time, Haru suggested that we should get something to eat before the concert. I was getting quite hungry myself, so I agreed to Haru's suggestion. We headed out of the Science Centre and started to make our way to a restaurant that Hideki recommended. Since we weren't in any hurry yet, we took a bit of time to sightsee on the way. We passed by two different schools, a large and fancy hotel, and a cathedral, all of which Hideki had something to say about. He knew surprisingly much about the city, despite living so far away from it.

In time, we arrived at the restaurant and ate there. I didn't want to order anything too crazy, so I just went with the same dishes Haru had. Finishing up, we still had a bit of time left before the concert, so we leisurely walked over to the concert arena, sightseeing along the way to kill some time.

* * *

By the time we arrived at the concert arena, a lot of people had already arrived there. The concert would start at 5, and it was a little past 4 already. Hideki told us that entrance would be granted at half past 4, so there was a little bit of time before we could enter. Sora was a little tired from all the walking, and there wasn't really anything else to see nearby, so we decided to just wait around the arena. We found a bench to sit on away from the crowds, as only two other people we nearby. I recognised them as the Japanese couple we had seen at the Science Centre, mainly from their distinct features. The _ahoge_ that the boy had was hard to miss, and the girl's beautiful, porcelain-like face was drawing attention, although I got the feeling she didn't like it, given that they had sought out a remote location, like we had. I decided to leave them, as they must have had their reasons for wanting to be alone. _I don't blame them. This has been really fun, but I'm already missing my alone time with Sora…_

"I'll go get us some drinks from that store over there. You two wait here, okay?" Hideki said to us suddenly.

"Yeah, sure. We won't go anywhere." I replied to Hideki as he left for the nearby store.

As soon as Hideki was out of sight, Sora leaned against me and sighed. I wrapped my right arm around her, while my left hand gently stroked her hair.

"...How long do you think it will take him?" Sora asked after a few moments of silence.

"Not too long, I don't think. Why do you ask?" I stopped stroking her hair and turned fully to look at her.

"I was wondering… if we could… _have a quickie_."

"Here?" I looked around, but the only other two people in the area were the Japanese couple some distance away from us, sitting on a bench like we were. "There aren't that many people, but… I don't think it's a good idea. We are in public, you know."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, Haru. It's just..." Sora trailed off before standing up and moving to be directly in front of me. "I… I want you. I can't hold back long." She said and sat down on my lap, facing me.

"Sora…" I quickly glanced past her. _Hideki isn't back yet, just us and the other couple…_ I placed my lips against hers, and Sora fiercely reciprocated my kiss. "Will that be enough for now?" I asked after I broke the kiss.

"Yes… _for now_." Sora said and hugged me tightly.

I happened to look at the couple again, and my eyes met the eyes of the boy. As soon as that happened, though, he averted his gaze. _Was he… looking at us?_ I moved one of my hands and did a small wave towards him. He flinched slightly, but didn't look back at me, instead saying something to the girl next to him. She was drinking something from a can, and briefly raised her gaze towards us, but never meeting my eyes.

"Oh! Haruka and Sora! _Kon'nichiwa!_ " A familiar voice coming from our left shifted my attention from the couple.

"Maria?" I looked at the blonde girl who had just arrived. I could spot two other people behind her, a young boy and an older man. " _What are you doing here?_ " I asked in English, remembering that she was more fluent with it than Japanese.

" _I should be asking you guys that, heh. I came here with my little brother and father for the concert._ " Maria said and motioned towards the two people behind her. " _We thought we'd go get some snacks and probably some drinks from the store._ "

" _Huh, I see._ " Sora was still sitting in my lap, although she had angled herself so she was looking at Maria. "Sora, could you..."

"I get it." Sora said and stood up, before sitting down next to me. "Why did she of all people have to come here..." She muttered just loud enough for me to hear.

" _You two are friends of my daughter?_ " The older man who I assumed was Maria's father said as he came towards us.

" _Yes, nice to meet you. My name is Kasugano Haruka, and this is my sister, Sora. We're… on a vacation here, and met Maria last week._ _We're staying at a friend's summer cottage near Taivalkoski, but came here today for the concert._ " I explained to him.

It took a few moments for him to respond, and I guessed that the reason was that he wasn't as fluent in English as his daughter was. " _Nice to meet you two. I'll go get some snacks, if you two would keep my children company?_ " He was pretty good at English, but I could hear that he didn't use it much. I nodded in response to him and he started to make his way to the store.

" _My dad is decent with English, though that is not the case with many people his age. Oh, but I should introduce you._ " Maria turned around to look at his little brother and said something to him in Finnish, which caused him to move next to his sister.

" _H-hello_." He said in English while grabbing hold of Maria's hand.

" _Hello. You must be Martti, right? Your sister has told us about you._ " I said to him and smiled.

"Haru." Sora suddenly said and tugged my sleeve. I turned to face her, and she whispered into my ear. " _Siscon._ " She smirked and leaned past me to look at Martti. " _Martti, right? My name is Sora. Nice to meet you._ "

I raised an eyebrow at Sora's actions. _Why is she suddenly acting like this? She's cold towards Maria, but her brother… Wait, by saying "siscon", did she mean…_ I turned to look at Maria's little brother. Maria had told us how much her brother valued her, and she valued her brother too, but… _What is Sora trying to achieve?_

"Haruka-kun! Sora-chan!" Hideki's voice pulled me out of my thoughts as he came to us with drinks in his hands. "I didn't know what you two liked, so I just got some soft drinks for you. You can choose between Cola, lemon and lime or orange." Hideki stopped as he saw Maria and Martti with us.

" _Kon'nichiwa._ You are… Minaduki Hideki? Haruka and Sora have told me about you, nice to meet you. My name is Maria." Maria said to him and bowed.

"Oh, a Finn who knows Japanese? And such a pretty girl too! Nice to meet you!" Hideki placed the drinks on the bench and bowed to Maria slightly. "I didn't know Haruka-kun and Sora-chan had managed to make friends already."

"Yes, we met last week. I showed them around Taivalkoski, and now we ran into each other here. I came to see the concert with my father and little brother."

"You're quite good at Japanese, I'll give you that. Have you studied it?"

"On my own, yes. I'm much more fluent with English, but I wanted to learn Japanese, too. I'm a huge fan of your culture."

As Maria and Hideki chatted with each other, I noticed some movement opposite of us. The couple had gotten up from their seat, and the girl was… making her way over to us. Sora noticed this too, as she took my hand into hers and glared at the girl, but she simply ignored my sister. She stopped a few meters away from us and directed her gaze to me. As our eyes met, I felt a chill go down my spine. _Scary, she's got this chilly aura about her…_

"Whatever it is you are playing at, it's dangerous, and… _wrong_." The words came out of her mouth like a blizzard, and both Hideki and Maria stopped their conversation to look at the new arrival.

"Sorry? What do you mean?" I had an idea of what she meant with that. The boy – who I guessed was her boyfriend – had seen Sora and I kiss, and I had no doubt that they could see that we were siblings.

"Seriously..." She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "I will only say this once. She is your sister, yes?" She said and pointed at Sora. "I won't intervene in the affairs of others, but… my statement still stands."

"And? What of it? What does it matter to _you_ if I'm his sister or not?" Sora snapped at the girl. _This is getting out of hand, very quickly_

"Indeed. That's why I won't intervene in this any longer. Just… be warned." The girl said and turned around to leave.

She turned and looked at us one final time, before grabbing her boyfriend by the arm and dragging him away. Sora glared at the pair the entire time, but turned her gaze to me once they disappeared out of sight.

"What… was that about?" Maria was the first to speak.

"Hm? Wasn't that the girl we saw at the Science Centre? With her boyfriend? Did you two do something while I was gone?" Hideki reacted to the situation with his usual cheery attitude. "To displease them, that is."

"I… have no idea. I noticed one of them looking at us at one point, and I waved at them, but…" In truth, I knew _exactly_ what she had talked about. They had seen us kiss, and since they were Japanese too, they could easily tell we were siblings, and she didn't approve.

"Huh, how odd. Well, no need to dwell on it. Perhaps she just had a bad day, or something. Should we go back to the concert arena soon? They'll start letting people in soon."

"Ah, we should wait for my dad to get back. We can enjoy the concert as one group, then." Maria replied to Hideki.

"Sounds like a good idea!" Hideki said and smiled brightly again.

I was glad the situation was resolved quickly. I knew we would tell Hideki about our relationship today, but Maria didn't need to know yet, if at all. Maria and Hideki resumed their conversation, and it didn't take long before Maria's father returned. After another round of introductions, we set out for the concert arena together. Hideki chatted with Maria's father, showing off his Finnish skills, with Maria joining their conversation occasionally, though she preferred to talk with Sora and I. Martti stuck to his older sister the entire time we made our way inside the arena and to our seats. A steady flow of people came in after us, filling the whole place well before the concert started.

The concert itself had three different Finnish bands playing, with a short break between each band's performance. With each band performing a few songs at a time, the whole thing was supposed to take about three hours. To my surprise, quite a lot of the songs were in English rather than Finnish, so even I understood the lyrics. Saying that, even the Finnish songs sounded good, even if I didn't understand the language. After the performances were over, we exited the concert arena and separated from Maria and her family, as they wanted to try getting some autographs. It was only 7 in the evening, but it had gotten quite dark already. The sky was filled with clouds, and it looked like it was going to rain at any moment. As we made our way back to Hideki's car, he told us that the weather forecast had mentioned that the next week or so would be quite rainy, possibly even stormy. The forecast had been correct, as we spent the 2-hour drive back to Taivalkoski listening to the rain.

* * *

"Hurry up, before we get too drenched." Hideki said as he parked the car. The rain hadn't stopped by the time we were back at Hideki's summer cottage, quite the opposite.

"Ugh, if you knew it was going to be raining, why did you not bring an umbrella?" Sora complained as she and I ran to the front yard with Hideki.

"Well, the forecast said that the rain would probably start on Monday, possibly Sunday evening at the earliest, and that the day should be clear and sunny. I'm sorry, Sora-chan. Really." Hideki replied as he opened the door and we made our way inside.

"Well, what's done is done. I'll need to change out of this shirt, that's for sure. What about you, Sora?" I asked my sister.

"...I'll be fine." Sora mumbled and briefly looked over at Hideki.

"No, your dress is drenched. I don't want you to catch a cold. You can just change back into your nightgown, it's quite late anyway."

"Listen to your brother, Sora-chan. I'll prepare something for us to eat." Hideki said and moved over to the kitchen area of the cottage.

"Come on, Sora." I said and smiled at my sister, who just sighed in response.

"...Fine." She said and moved to the other side of the central column in the cottage to change out of her wet clothes.

"We'll tell him when we're eating, okay?" I whispered to Sora.

Sora paused briefly, looked at me and nodded. I smiled and nodded back at her, then left her to her changing. I took off my shirt and changed into another one, then took off my jeans, putting on some comfy sweatpants in their place. After I had finished changing, I went to help Hideki with the food. We were all hungry, and didn't want to cook anything that would take too long, so we settled for a simple evening meal.

" _Itadakimasu._ " We all said in unison as we began eating.

Sora and I kept glancing at each other while we ate. I wanted to do this, but I couldn't help but feel extremely nervous about it and I got the feeling that Sora felt the same. But the two of us had decided to do this together, and we would see through it together. No matter what happened, we would stay strong, together.

"Is something wrong? You two keep looking at each other." Hideki said and paused his eating. "Is the seasoning off?"

"No, no, that's not it. It's just..." I looked over at Sora, who gave a slight nod. I took a deep breath before continuing. "We… have something we want to tell you."

"Oh? No, don't tell me you're going to find somewhere else to stay? I do so enjoy your company." Hideki replied with his usual cheerfulness.

"Not… quite. Although… that might be a result of this, it all… depends on you."

"Hm? You sound quite… serious? What's the matter?"

I looked back at Sora and swallowed. She scooted ever so slightly closer to me and held my hand underneath the table. My heart was racing in my chest, and I took another deep breath.

"Sora and I… We… aren't like normal siblings." I paused briefly, but continued, since Hideki stayed silent. "When we were little, Sora had to spend a lot of time in hospital, and that resulted in us not… _bonding_ the way normal twins do. After Sora was able to live home again, however, we've been together ever since. Because of this, our relationship was slightly different from normal siblings." I paused again and studied Hideki's face for a moment, but he remained silent and motionless. "Back then, there might have even been some… feelings, that we had. It was only after we moved back to Okukozume that those… _feelings_ resurfaced. A-anyway, that's all just useless backstory, what I'm trying to say is… is..." When the moment came, I couldn't find my words.

"...Haru is saying that we love each other. And I don't just mean love you have between normal siblings. We are lovers." Sora managed to say what I didn't. "We've kept it from you for… obvious reasons, but we felt that you should know this." Sora came even closer to me, and drove her point home by kissing me on the cheek.

"Well… there you have it." I looked at Hideki again. He hadn't moved at all since I started to speak, but I could see his expression had changed. Usually, Hideki was cheerful and outgoing, going everywhere with a smile on his face. But now, he looked… serious. I swallowed again as I awaited what his reaction would be.

"..." Hideki opened his mouth, but didn't say anything. He directed his gaze to meet my eyes, then took a deep breath.

" _I know._ "

* * *

 **AN: And finally that's done. Once again, I apologise that this took such a long time to publish, but hopefully the slightly longer length of this chapter makes up for it. I will try to get the next chapter up sooner, probably within a week. Hopefully within a week. I'll try my best!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: And I'm back to writing this story, after leaving you all with a nice cliffhanger last time. Although, if you've been paying close attention, the reveal at the end of the last chapter wasn't that big of a surprise, but now we'll see how the story continues after this!**

 **This chapter contains a lemon scene at the end, so be warned.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – Promises**

" _Ohio_ , Haruka-kun!" Hideki called out to me as if nothing had happened when I wrenched myself away from the bed.

" _O-ohio_." I replied to him.

I hadn't slept at all last night. Not after what Hideki had told us.

 _I know_

The words Hideki said to us yesterday resonated in my head. I still had a hard time believing him. I sat down at the table quietly and replayed last night's events in my head.

"..."

" _You… what?" Sora and I asked simultaniously._

" _I… know about the relationship you two have, and have known for quite some time, now." Hideki replied. His expression was still serious._

" _But… how? And since when?" I asked as Sora gripped my hand harder._

" _Well… I didn't initially know about it when I took you two in, but… I'm quite good at reading people. You hid it well, I'll give you that, but to me, two people in love stick out like a sheep in a henhouse." The smile returned to Hideki's face for a brief moment. "Heh, now that I think about it, all those years ago I was probably the first one to notice that your parents were in love with each other. They didn't even realize it themselves." He continued with a nostalgic look on his face._

" _That… doesn't really explain it all..." Sora said quietly while looking down at the table. Hideki mentioning our parents probably brought back some bad memories for her._

" _At first, I was suspicious. You may not spoken about it, but the subtle hints your body language, as well as the things you said gave me some indication towards it. In the end, though, what confirmed it was… the kiss."_

" _The… kiss?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Certainly, we had kissed multiple times, but when did he see us do it?_

" _Yes, the one you had the day before I took you two here, remember? In the shower?"_

" _You saw that?!" I said, quite loudly, to which Hideki nodded as an answer. "Oh… I-I see. It was a risky move, but… I was used to being… close with Sora, and I just couldn't resist after so many days of..." I paused as I realized what I was about to say._

" _So… If you knew… why have you… acted like this all along?" Sora asked. "You even said all that stuff about being 'envious' of how close we were, since you never had any siblings."_

" _I knew you were keeping the secret from me for a reason, so I decided to play along with you two. To be completely honest, though..." Hideki looked at me dead in the eye, looking the most serious he has ever been, before his signature smile returned to his face. "…You wouldn't have needed to."_

" _What?" Sora and I said, simultaneously once again._

" _It's true that relationships like yours are frowned upon, but I wasn't repulsed by it one bit. I knew your circumstances, with your childhoods, the unfortunate passing of your parents, nearly everything. Once I found out… I accepted it as a logical conclusion. It… made sense that you would have developed feelings for each other. As for the whole 'being envious' thing… I wasn't lying." Hideki explained and paused for a bit before continuing. "I always wanted a sibling. Someone close to me, someone who I could rely on, and someone who could rely on me in turn. Unfortunately, that was not the case. But I also was envious of the… love you two had for each other. I've always been good at reading people, and many of my associates have gotten together partly because of me, but… I never found anyone to be with like that. Even after many years here in Finland, I'm still very much single."_

 _Sora and I were left speechless. Hideki had known all this time, but didn't scorn us, and accepted our relationship. He accepted us for who we were._

" _Well, I think that's enough for today." Hideki said and got up from the table. "Now you two know what I think, so don't be shy in showing your love with me around. As long as you kids keep quiet while it's nighttime." He said with a wink and left us at the table._

" _..."_

The clatter of a plate being placed in front of me shook me out of my thoughts, as Hideki laid out some breakfast for me.

"You look tired, Haruka-kun. Did you not sleep well?" He asked with a smile.

"Ah, well… To be honest, I didn't sleep at all, I don't think. I was… thinking about what you said yesterday all night." I confessed to Hideki as I scratched my cheek.

"Oh, I see. Do you… not believe me? I won't say I'll support your relationship, but I'll cheer you two on form the backlines!"

"It's not that I don't believe you… well, it kinda is that, but… I guess I'm just stunned about what you said, I did not expect it."

"Is that so?" Hideki's expression became more serious, but not as serious as yesterday. "You don't need to worry. As I said yesterday, I accept the relationship you two have. If you truly love each other, then who am I to stand between your love? I believe that love, in all its forms, be it incest or not, should be cherished. But not everyone thinks the same way. I belong in that small minority that does. You'll have to plot your future carefully."

"Yeah, you're right. Sora and I made a promise that we'd let nothing or no-one get in our way, and I intend to keep that promise." I said with a proud smile.

"That's the spirit!" Hideki said with a smile of his own and gently patted my shoulder. "I'm sure you two kids have a bright future ahead of you. With that attitude, you two should be able to live together happily!"

"I'm… really glad that you accept us, although..." I trailed off towards the end of my sentence. _I still can't fully believe him. It seems… too good._

"I think I can guess what's bothering you. You're not sure I'll keep to my word?" Hideki asked, and I nodded weakly as an answer. "How about… I promise you that I'll stay true to what I've said, and keep your… _blood relation_ a secret, okay?" Hideki said and placed a hand on his chest. "If I break my promise… I'll… sell my business away." My eyes widened at his statement.

"You'll… do what? But… aren't you quite successful? Even with your relatively small business?"

"I wouldn't joke about something like this. My primary business is quite small, yes, but I do earn a good bit with it. I've also got two other businesses that keep me afloat more than well enough. Naturally, they would also be a part of this promise."

"So… you're saying that you'll risk your stable income… for us?"

"It can be put that way, yes. I have no intentions of breaking the promise, though. I won't openly support you, as what you two have _is_ frowned upon, but I'll stand by your side through any hardships you two face."

"I… thank you, Hideki." I said and bowed to him, then smiled as I took a fork and started to work on the food laid out in front of me.

* * *

The sound of people talking slowly stirred me awake. I moved around the bed and found a certain source of warmth and comfort missing. As I slowly opened my groggy eyes, I saw that Haru wasn't in the bed with me.

"Haruuuuuuuuuu…" I half-mumbled half-growled as I moved to the edge of the bed.

"Sora?" I could hear the shuffling of feet as Haru walked around the central fireplace and came up to me on the bed. "You're finally up." Haru said with a smile. I could see the bags under his eyes, telling me he hadn't slept well.

"What time is it..?" I said sleepily and tried to grab Haru's arm.

"It's around nine in the morning. Come on, it's time for you to get up." Haru grabbed my arm gently as I tried to grab his.

"But… you look like you haven't slept well… Just come back to the bed with me..."

"You… aren't wrong about that. But everything's fine. I was planning on laying down for a while anyway, but not necessarily with you. Hideki accepted us, but he didn't want any… _funny business_ while he's around."

Hearing Hideki's name caused my eyes to shoot open. _Hideki… everything he said yesterday… And he's still here?_ As if on cue, Hideki appeared behind my beloved Haru.

" _Ohio_ , Sora-chan! You seem like you slept better than your brother! Come, we'll let Haruka-kun rest a little before we head out for today." He said with his overenthusiastic voice. I wasn't sure which irritated me more, his voice, or the stupid smile he always had on his face. _Although… after last night… I'm glad he's with us_ _and not against us._

"We're… heading out?" I asked as I sat up on the bed, and Hideki nodded as an answer. "To where? Isn't today a normal day for you?"

"I made sure that I had the possibility to have this day off in advance, because of the concert being so late and all. Haruka-kun and I decided that we'd make a short trip to Taivalkoski today, after he's rested up, since he didn't get much sleep."

"What about the rain?" I asked as I peeked past them, trying to get a glimpse of what it was like outside.

"It should clear up some time after midday, hopefully. We should have a nice time window to make our trip." Haru answered and yawned. "Come on, Sora. Hideki wanted to talk with you, anyway. I'll lie down until the weather clears up." He continued with a smile that infected my face as well.

"Fine." I said and stood up, giving Haru a quick kiss, then looking towards Hideki. "I'll change clothes."

"Ah, of course. No worries, I'll be cleaning up the table, then." Hideki replied and scurried off to the other side of the fireplace.

Haru laid down on the bed in my place and stretched, then closed his eyes and relaxed. He looked so calm and helpless, I had to resist the urge to jump on him. _That's right… Hideki_ _knew about us… and wasn't disgusted. Maybe he's a better guy than I initially thought._ I shook my head to clear my thoughts and started changing out of my nightgown. I noticed that the fireplace was lit, and the clothes I had worn yesterday were hanging above it. They weren't completely dry yet, so I figured Hideki must have put them up this morning. I hadn't brought that many clothes with me, which, after spending this much time here, had become a slight problem. I ended up changing into a black dress and shirt, not unlike the one I was most comfortable wearing, but left my stockings behind. Hideki had finished with his cleaning, though one plate was still visible on the table.

"Whose funeral are you going to, Sora-chan?" Hideki joked as I walked up to the table. "Would you like some breakfast? I left a plate for you and everything." He said and gestured towards the plate currently in front of me.

"What's for breakfast?" I asked and took a seat.

"Nothing special. Fried eggs, bacon. toast, a bit of salad. If you want anything specific, I'll see if I can whip it up." He said with a smile.

"I'll be fine, thanks."

I proceeded to take my plate and placed a couple of fried eggs and some bacon onto it. I took a piece of toast and stared at the salad for a moment. _If it was made by Haru, then maybe… but no thank you._ I sat back down at the table and began to eat.

"Do you like it, Sora-chan?" Hideki asked as he sat down opposite of me, in front of the window. The rain was still going on outside, though not as strong as yesterday.

"Enough to eat it, but I prefer Haru's cooking." I replied and stuffed some bacon into my mouth.

"That's good to hear." Hideki said and smiled, as an awkward silence came over us for a few moments.

"Haru said you wanted to talk with me, so spit it out." I said once I finished chewing.

"Right. Well, you remember what we spoke of yesterday, don't you?" I assumed he was referring to the chat we had before we went to sleep, so I nodded as an answer. "I spoke a little more about it with Haruka-kun today, and I wanted to ask you if you… well, to be blunt, do you believe what I said?" His expression became a little more serious as he finished.

"Believe what you said? Are you saying that you were lying? That you don't accept our relationship after all?"

"No, no, that's not what I'm saying. It's just that… well, Haruka-kun wasn't really convinced that I was sincere, so I was just wondering if you felt the same way."

"Are you sincere, then?"

"Of course. As I said to your brother, I belong in the minority that cherishes love in all its forms, even if that love is incestuous, and thus deemed 'immoral' by the public. I have nothing against the love you two share, though I won't publicly support it, either." Hideki explained to me.

"Well… I do believe that you are sincere. I see no reason not to, after all. I'm… kinda glad you see things the same way we do. But know that if you do end up betraying us, my wrath will be immense." I said and pointed a fork at Hideki.

"Heh, don't worry. I already promised to Haruka-kun that I wouldn't do such a thing, and that I would keep your secret. On pain of losing my steady income, as well."

"Losing… what? Wait, really?"

"You heard me. That's how serious I am about this. I really want to see you two… _prosper_ , if you will."

 _Maybe I was wrong about him._ I thought and smiled at him. _Hideki is actually a nice person, although…_

"Don't tell me you have some weird bro-sis fetish, and that's why you're doing this?" I asked and narrowed my eyes.

"Hah! I was almost expecting that from you, Sora-chan." Hideki said and chuckled. "But, to answer your question, no I do not have such fetishes. Although… back when I was your age… well, you probably don't want to hear such stories from me." Hideki said and winked.

Okay, maybe he is as bad I thought he was.

" _Hentai._ " I said to him, which caused Hideki to laugh.

"I'm sorry, Sora-chan. You two are just so… amusing sometimes, I can't help myself." Hideki said and cleared his throat. "But that wasn't everything I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh? Go on then." I said and took a bit of fried egg into my mouth.

"Well, I wanted to ask you about your… _future_." Hideki paused and I raised an eyebrow at him. "I know you two plan on returning to Japan after this trip, but… what about after that? Will you just continue your youths normally? What plans do you have? Specifically… are you planning on… you know… _children_?"

I paused my chewing and froze in place as Hideki's words hit me. _Children_. The mere thought of having children with Haru brought me… _happiness_. I remember the night when Haru started to have doubts about our relationship.

" _I'll… I'll even carry your child if I need to!"_

That's what I had shouted to him. At the time, I probably just said it in the heat of the moment, but… I'm sure I always wanted that in the back of my mind, but only now that Hideki had mentioned it, did it strike me. _Certainly… if we are to live like any normal couple… having children would be something we'd eventually consider. If… if it hasn't already happened._ I put down my fork and brought a hand to my stomach as I swallowed the fried egg in my mouth. _We have been having a lot of sex… all unprotected. And I've always insisted that he come inside… It felt good for me, and for him too, but… could I unconsciously have been wanting it for another reason? Could I have been wanting Haru's baby all this time?_ I could feel a smile growing at the thought. I had made up my mind. I wanted to get pregnant with Haru's child. With my _twin brother's_ child. And I didn't give a damn about what the rest of the world thought about it.

"Sora-chan..?" Hideki's voice brought me out of my pleasant thoughts. "Was there something wrong with the fried egg?"

"Huh? Oh, no, there wasn't. I was just… thinking." I replied and picked up the fork again.

"Thinking? About your future, perhaps?"

"I… guess so. We… haven't really thought of anything, other than wanting to spend the rest of our lives together, but that's a given. But… personally, I..." I paused briefly and took a deep breath. "I know I want to… have children with Haru." Hideki's expression stayed the same as it had throughout our whole conversation.

"That is… to be expected. Now… you can always keep your blood relation a secret from everyone else, and get away with it, but… You are aware of the… _risks_ it could cause?"

"Risks? Aside from 'getting caught' there shouldn't be any… right?"

"Well… alongside the moral reasons, there is also some… _biological_ , even _evolutionary_ reasons as to why incest is… frowned upon." Hideki paused, and I raised an eyebrow at him again. _What is he talking about? Biological? Evolutionary? Don't tell me we can't have children because we're siblings? No, that can't be right._ "Well… to put it simply… Every species needs to reproduce in order to survive, right? And the strongest ones who survive will pass down their genes, so that their offspring have the best chances of survival. It's called natural selection. One thing that affects the survival of a species is the mixing of genes, resulting in different outcomes. However, when incest is taken into consideration… well, if two members of a species are related to each other closely, the offspring that they create will not benefit from the mixing of genes, right?" Hideki paused again and looked at me.

"What… are you trying to say?" I understood a lot of what Hideki had said, but his point didn't get to me.

"What I'm saying is that… with any species, all offspring born as a result of incest have… less of a chance of survival than those not born from incest, because the starting genome is too similar. With humans, this translates to… well, if you two had a child, they might have… a weak immune system, for example, or some other physiological problem."

"O-oh..." _Now I get it. He's saying we shouldn't have children because they might be… weaker. But… I'm not perfectly healthy either, and I'm completely fine._ "But… wouldn't… modern medicine counteract that? I mean… I know I'm not that strong, and I've lived this long."

"Oh, of course. And who knows, your child might be completely normal. Genetics are a fickle thing. I'm not discouraging you or anything, I just wanted you to know that there are risks."

"Not like your discouraging would have affected me anyway. I'm determined to have Haru's baby." I said and took a bite from a piece of toast.

"I won't stand in your, then. But promise me that you'll think about your future more. I know you're the type of girl who would rather spend her life inside than ever go do anything, but… Even with Haruka-kun at your side, you won't be able to do so forever."

"Thanks for the compliment." I said and sighed. "Worrying about such things is usually Haru's problem, but… I'll promise to think about our future more."

"I'm glad to hear that." Hideki said and smiled as he got up. "Well, that's all I wanted to talk to you about. I'll leave you to eat in peace, now."

I watched from the corner of my eye as Hideki walked over to where he had slept last night and lied down, picking up a book from to floor to read. _The future, huh?_ I thought and sighed as I looked out the window, the raindrops steadily hitting the glass. _I wonder what it holds for us. I hope it's something good._ I smiled again as I brought my hand to my stomach. _If it already hasn't._

* * *

Just like Haru had said, the weather had cleared up by midday. While Haru had slept, I used Hideki's laptop to surf the internet. The connection was quite awful, and I had trouble with the keyboard since it used western letters, but I managed to entertain myself with it. We had just made our to Taivalkoski in Hideki's car, even though we wouldn't have really needed it. I'm not complaining, though. I'll take anything over walking.

"Anything in particular that you two want to get while we're here?" Hideki asked as we entered the local store.

"I don't think so. More food supplies, really, but… Are you really comfortable with paying for us? I mean, you've given us money to pay for our food until now, but… I don't want to rely on you too much." Haru said to him.

"Don't sweat it. You never had that much money to begin with, right? And while you're here, you've got practically no way of earning any. You could always work for me, but it wouldn't feel right for me to do that while you two are on vacation." Hideki replied as we began our shopping trip.

"We really can't thank you enough, Hideki-kun. We'll find a way to pay back your kindness in the future."

 _The Future…_ I hadn't told to Haru about the conversation Hideki and I had, or that I had decided that I wanted his child. _I wonder what he thinks about it? Does Haru even want children?_ I thought to myself as we walked around the store picking up various things while Haru and Hideki chatted away. For a brief moment, I thought I saw dangerously familiar locks of blonde hair in the corner of my eyes. _Please don't tell me…_ As we went to another aisle to pick up something else, my fears were confirmed, as the blonde-haired girl we – unfortunately – were acquainted with.

"Oh! Haruka, Sora! And Hideki, too. _Kon'nichiwa_!" Maria shouted enthusiastically as she walked over to us.

"Maria? Well, this is a surprise. _Kon'nichiwa_." Haru replied. I moved next to him and grabbed his arm, then glared at her.

"Nice to meet you again, Maria. How come you're here? Do you not have school today?" Hideki asked the blonde girl.

"Ah, I do, but I've got an extended lunch break on Mondays. I decided to stop by here today and grab a bite to eat. Didn't expect to run into you guys, though."

"Well, isn't this a happy little coincidence, then?" _No, it isn't, Hideki._ "I'll get the rest of the groceries, so you kids can hang out, okay?"

Haru nodded to him as an answer, and the two of us made our way to the exit. Maria followed soon, after making a brief detour to the cashier to pay for her purchases. I didn't particularly want to spend time with her, but I knew I wouldn't have to tolerate her for long.

"This is quite a… good thing actually. I've sort of wanted to talk with you two about something." Maria said as we made our way outside.

"Really? What is it?" Haru asked.

"Well… this morning I… found something… in my brother's room." Maria explained while fidgeting awkwardly.

"Go on then, we haven't got all day." I urged Maria on.

"Okay, well, promise me that you won't get weirded out, okay? When I visited my little brother's room this morning, I found… pictures. Of myself. Quite a few, too." My eyes widened at her statement.

"Pictures of yourself? What's wrong with that? Your brother looks up to you a lot, doesn't he?" Haru asked, looking puzzled.

"Well… that's what I thought, but…" Maria looked thoughtful for a moment, then continued in English. " _Some of them I recognised as pictures that were taken by someone I know, but the others… it looked like he had been taking pictures of me secretly. They weren't ugly or anything, just… why would he be taking pictures of me?_ "

 _I knew Maria's brother was a siscon! This just proves it!_ I thought to myself as a devious smile made its way onto my face. _And from what I remember hearing from her mouth, Maria also seems to care for her little brother a lot, too. With a little push, she'll become a total brocon and leave Haru alone!_

" _That's not so bad._ " I replied to her in English. " _Come here for a moment, Maria._ " I moved away from Haru and gestured for her to come to me.

" _What is it?_ " Maria asked as she came up to me.

" _Do you have any idea as to why your brother may have such pictures of you, hmmm?_ " I whispered to her in Japanese.

"Huh? N-not really… I mean… I can think of _one_ possible reason, maybe..." Maria trailed off towards the end.

" _Shhh! I don't want Haru to hear this. Tell me, what is that reason you can think of?_ "

" _W-well..._ " Maria whispered and took a deep breath. " _Maybe_ … _maybe he's got a… c-crush on me, or something. But I'm his sister! That isn't normal, right?_ "

" _Don't worry. There's nothing wrong with a little brother developing a crush for his big sister, especially one as wonderful as you. Think about this: How do you feel about your brother, hmm? After you've found the answer to that, confront him about it._ "

"Sora..?" Maria said with a puzzled look on her face as I walked back over to Haru and latched onto his arm.

"Sora? What did you say to her?" Haru asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing, really. Just gave her some advice, as a fellow girl with a brother." I said and snickered.

" _Wait… could it be.._?" Maria muttered quietly as she looked at the two of us, her eyes widening for a brief moment, before shaking her head. " _...Nevermind. Anyway, I'll need to go, my lunch break will be over soon, and I still need to go somewhere. Thanks… for the advice, Sora._ " Maria said and waved at us.

" _See you around, Maria!_ " Haru said and raised his hand briefly.

" _See you._ " I said.

"Seriously, what did you tell her? I know you don't like her, so I hope you didn't tell her something weird." Haru asked me after Maria had disappeared from sight.

"Don't worry, I gave her some good advice. I'm hoping to see some results the next time we see her." I replied with a devious smile.

Haru simply looked at me with confused expression, while Hideki appeared from inside the store, carrying two plastic bags. _Maria's little brother is a siscon, that's for sure. If his sister feels anything remotely similar towards him… They would be cute together, I think._

We visited a few other places and got something to eat before returning to Hideki's summer cottage. The rain had stopped earlier, but clouds were beginning to gather in the sky again. As we returned, Hideki reminded us again that the coming week might be stormy, so that we'd have to be careful, especially considering the electricity. Soon after he left to return home, the rain started again, so Haru and I were stuck inside. Not that it mattered. Now that Hideki was gone, I had some _plans_ for the two of us, so we wouldn't get bored.

* * *

I watched as the raindrops hit the large window looking out to the courtyard. The wooden bear that stood proud in the centre was darkened by the moisture it had absorbed. _I'm kinda bummed out by this weather… I don't mind being inside, but… I was hoping I could spend some time outside with Sora. She likes being a shut-in, but I want to do something about her lifestyle…_

"Haru." Sora's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I turned my head to face her. She was already wearing her nightgown, despite it still being quite early, as the clock wasn't even close to six yet.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"There's… something I want to tell you." My sister said and fidgeted slightly.

"Oh? Go on then."

"Well… This morning… Hideki asked me to think about our future together, and… I've made a… very important decision." Sora said and walked up to me, her tone being more serious than usual.

"Is… something wrong?" I was concerned about what she was saying.

"No, that's not it. Just… I..." Sora paused and took a deep breath. "I want to… start a real family with you, Haru."

I was left speechless by what she had said. The way she had initially said it made it sound like she was talking about something bad. _Sora… wants to start a family? So she… wants to have children? That's… wonderful._

"You… want for us to get children? Now?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Well… not necessarily right now, but… at some point. The point is… I want to have children with you, Haru. I love you, and that's… a logical next step, one could say." Sora replied while looking downwards.

"Sora… I love you too." I said and got up to embrace my sister. "I think your decision is a wonderful one, and I… agree with you." I kissed Sora on the cheek and smiled at her.

"Really? You really want that too?" She asked, her eyes being slightly teary.

"Of course, Sora." I replied and captured her lips with my own.

"That's great… I'm glad..." Sora said after breaking the kiss. "So… do you want to start trying now?" She then continued while her hand trailed down across my body.

"Heh, haven't we been doing enough of that already? But when it comes to this, no amount is enough, right?" I replied and caressed her face.

Sora smiled at me and started leading me to the bed. Because of everything that had happened in the past few days, we hadn't had the chance to have sex at all, so I was anxiously waiting for this, most likely almost as much as Sora was. She laid down on the bed as I took my shirt off and climbed on with her. Immediately Sora was on me, pulling me down to a deep and passionate kiss, while her hands trailed across my body, finding their way down to my pants. While our tongues mixed our saliva together, I explored Sora's body with my hands as well. My right hand easily found its way underneath her nightgown, where I found her hard nipples, while I lowered my left hand down to her crotch, revealing the fact that she was not wearing panties. _You planned this, didn't you? You dirty girl, Sora._ I thought as I began to tease both her nipples and her clit.

"Ah! Haru." Sora yelped as she broke our kiss, her hands fumbling with my pants, trying to pull them off.

I moved in to kiss her again, though this time I aimed my lips at her neck. I kissed and licked along her neck, while simultaneously pushing the index finger on my left hand inside of her. Her insides were warm, and she was very wet already. Sora finally managed to pull my pants down, revealing my hardening member to her. Instantly, her hands found their way around it, and she started to expertly jerk me, soon bringing my member to its full length. Small moans were escaping from her mouth as I fingered her rapidly, kissed her beautiful neck and groped her breasts.

"Haru! I-I'm gonna… I'm gonna..." Sora managed to say before I silenced her with my mouth, while increasing the pace at which I fingered her. Soon after, I could feel her pussy start to convulse around my finger, as she reached orgasm. " _MMMMMMMMMPPPPPHHHHHHH!_ " Sora moaned into my mouth as she shuddered, the movement of her hands stopping. I was close to releasing as well, but held out as best I could.

"Did that feel good, Sora?" I asked as Sora panted underneath me, gasping for air.

"Yes… it did… Haru..." She said between breaths. "Now… let me… return the favour..."

I moved from on top of her to sit down on the bed, while Sora moved in front of me. She grasped my member with her hands again and licked her lips, before bringing her head down to my crotch. She began to move her hands while licking up and down my length, before taking the tip in her mouth. After so much practice, Sora had gotten very good at sucking me off. Even with just the tip in her mouth, I felt heavenly. Soon, she took more of me inside her mouth, using her hands and tongue with expertise to bring me closer and closer to climax. Soon, she removed her hands altogether and took my shaft into her mouth, pressing her face against my crotch.

"S-Sora… Y-you're going to make me..." I said and placed a hand on my her head, and she lifted it off my member, her face a mess of saliva as she looked at me.

"Today… you're only allowed come inside me." Sora said seductively and pushed me down onto the bed.

She positioned herself above me and grabbed my member, aiming it towards her entrance. At first, she teased the tip, rubbing it against her folds, then suddenly plunged the whole thing inside of her in one go. I could feel her cervix pressing against my tip, as I reached as deep inside of her as possible. I had been close to releasing a moment ago, and was brought back to that point again. As Sora started to ride me, it took all of my willpower to focus on not cumming straight away. I reached upwards and grabbed Sora's breasts through the fabric of her nightgown, hoping to distract myself enough that I could hold out until Sora was ready as well. Each time she bounced on me, my tip came into contact with her cervix, bringing immense pleasure. Suffice it to say, it didn't take long until I was brought to the point of no return.

"I can't… hold on any longer, Sora..." I said, and Sora slammed herself down on me, starting to grind against me rather than ride me.

"Yes! Do it, Haru! Come inside me! Knock me up, knock me up, knock me up!" Sora shouted.

With that, I was done for. I grunted loudly as my member twitched inside my sister and the floodgates were opened. My tip was pressed against her cervix as I unloaded my warm seed inside of her. The moment the first spurt of cum was released, Sora reached orgasm as well, her walls spasming around me, milking all the seed I had to give her. Thanks to gravity, a lot of my semen dripped out of her, but it was replaced with even more, as my orgasm felt like it would never end. Sora collapsed on top of me and wrapped her arms around me as both of us breathed heavily.

"Sora..." I managed to say as my orgasm finally ended.

"Haru… that was great… How about round two?" My sister said and caressed my cheek with her hand.

"Let me… rest a little..."

We ended up having sex many more times that day. Each time, just as Sora had said, I came inside of her. _We lost our family, but still had each other. And now, we are moving on to create a family of our own. And I couldn't be happier._

* * *

 **AN: Phew, that's finally done. I apologise that this took so long to write, but that's what happens when you write three stories at once and have to fight against procrastination. I won't promise that the next chapter will be out in a week, but I'll try my best to get it written as soon as possible!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hello again! This story is slowly getting to the point where I am starting to run out of things to put in it. I planned this out well in advance, but not well enough, it seems. Updates might be a little slower as I figure things out, but for now, I should have some ideas for two more chapters (including this one). But even if I have some ideas, updating might still be a little slow, thanks to my new semester starting (I have ACTUAL homework, wow!) so my time will be a little more constrained than before. I will still try my best, and will probably write my ass off on weekends to make up for it.**

 **But, I've delayed this long enough. Let's get to the story! Oh, and this chapter will have a lemon scene in it, so be warned.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – The Storm**

"Alright, Haruka-kun. You two just be careful, okay? The storm's not going anywhere anytime soon." Hideki said to me over the phone. "If you two get into any trouble, don't hesitate to call me, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to drive over there in this weather."

"We'll be alright, we don't have any plans for going outside in that storm anyway." I replied to him. "And before you ask, yes, I've already turned off the electricity, just like you instructed. Sora grumbled a bit about it, but even she understands that it would be dangerous to leave it on." I glanced over to my sister, who was lying down on the bed, reading one of the Mangas Hideki had here. _'_ _JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken'? Hideki probably doesn't have any of the newer parts here, but I guess I could go for a re-read later._

"Well, I guess I'll have to leave you kids on your own, then. Hopefully the storm will clear up by weekend, so I can come and check on you two. Until then, Haruka-kun!"

"Yeah, see you then, Hideki!"

I ended the call and looked outside the window with a sigh. It was pouring with rain, and I could just hear the distant rumble of thunder. Hideki had warned us about the weather turning stormy last Sunday, and it looks like he was right. It had been rainy all week, and now that it was Thursday, it seems the storm finally reached Taivalkoski. Neither of us were afraid of thunderstorms, but we did realize how dangerous they could be, especially considering a forested place such as this. _I wouldn't be surprised if Hideki brings us news about a forest fire when he comes back over._ I looked back over at Sora, who had seemingly deemed the more or less bizarre adventures of JoJo boring, as the book now laid on the floor, upside down. I couldn't help but smile at my sister as she kicked her legs around while staring at the ceiling. _She acts like kid sometimes, even when we're nearly of age. I'll probably have to take care of her for the rest of our lives. Although… if she was serious about having a child… That would be a good time for her to grow up some._ I took out my phone again and looked at the time on it. It wasn't that late, but it was already dark outside because of the storm. Without electricity, there was no way to charge the laptop, which meant no internet. And since we were holed up inside, there wasn't much to do without the laptop.

"Haru." Sora's voice reached my ears. "I'm cold."

I got up from my seat and walked over to the fireplace. Once we knew that the storm was coming our way, I had started a fire to keep us warm. I added a few logs and stoked the fire a little, before making my way to Sora, grabbing a blanket with me.

"Here, Sora." I said and gave my sister the blanket. "Wrap yourself up in this by the fire. The heat should spread around soon."

"I want to wrap around _you_ , Haru." Sora said as she took the blanket from me. I had no doubts about what she _really_ meant with that. _I guess… this is as good a time as any to ask her about… the possibility of a child._

"I… think I know what you want to do, Sora. I want to ask you something relating to that, actually." I said and sat down on the bed.

"Haru..?" Sora rose up and sat down next to me.

"I know you were pretty gung-ho about us having a child, but… Do you think you'll be able to take care of one? I mean, I practically have to take care of you, and if our child is going to be anything like you, I'd have twice the workload on my shoulders."

Sora opened her mouth as if to say something, but stopped. She looked to be deep in thought for a few moments, before she replied to me.

"...Is that a roundabout way of you saying I should stop being a shut-in? Don't answer, I… get what you're concerned about. But… if it means the best for… our future child, I'm willing to… change my ways, or something." Sora looked away and kicked her feet on the edge of the bed.

"I'm not forcing you, Sora. All I'm saying is that if we do really plan on having children, we need to get ourselves in order first." I wrapped an arm around Sora's shoulder and pulled her closer to me, and she reciprocated by wrapping one of her arms around my waist.

"...I just want us to be happy together, Haru." Sora said quietly and laid her head on my shoulder.

I just smiled as I began to stroke my sister's head gently. _I do too, Sora. I do too._ _We will both have to work hard for our future, so that we can be happy._ I thought as we snuggled up together, while the distant rumble of thunder came ever so closer to us.

* * *

I sat on an armchair in front of the fireplace, my gaze directed towards the window. When the storm had arrived, the rain became strong, nearly comparable to the typhoons we had back in Japan. Every now and then I could see a flash of lightning followed by a loud boom of thunder. As I watched the raindrops hit the window, I only had thought.

I was bored as hell.

The laptop Hideki had left us was pretty much out of juice, and with the electricity turned off, there was no way to charge it. The Manga collection Hideki had here was quite impressive, but I had read a lot of it already and gotten bored of reading. Simply put, there was nothing to do thanks to the storm. I sighed as I turned away to look at Haru, who was currently reading manga while lying down on the bed. _Certainly… there's only one thing that can fight this boredom._ A smile made its way onto my face as I stood up and walked over to the bed.

"Hm? Sora? What's up?" Haru asked as he lowered his book and looked at me as I stood over him.

"I'm bored, Haru." I replied to him.

"Is that so? Do you… have something in mind relating to that?"

"I do indeed. It involves you, me and this bed, so get rid of that book." Haru chuckled and closed the book, placing it on the nightstand next to the bed.

"There's just no satisfying you, is there? Come here, then. I would be lying if I said I didn't want to, after all."

The smile on my face turned into a grin as I swiftly took off my dress and climbed onto the bed, with only my panties and stockings remaining on. Haru rose up to a sitting position and embraced me as I leaned in to kiss him. I needed him, and didn't want to waste any time, so I invaded his mouth with my tongue immediately. Haru's hands travelled around my back, one moving to my waist to pull me closer, while the other settled itself on the back of my head. After a few seconds of exchanging saliva, I could feel something hard poking me down below, and I became wet with excitement and anticipation.

"Haru… I need you right now..." I said after breaking our kiss.

"What kind of man would I be if I refused my sister's request?" Haru said and started kissing me on the neck, his hand trailing down my body to my panties.

I never told it to Haru, but whenever he addressed me as his sister during sex, or otherwise brought up our blood relation, it turned me on so much. Just knowing that we were doing something that other people would consider wrong or taboo made me so excited. Of course, to us, what we did wasn't wrong in any way, and I didn't really understand why other people would deem it that way. We were two people, truly in love with each other. Anyone who calls true love "wrong", is wrong themselves.

"Ahn! Haru!" While I had these thoughts, Haru had managed to slide my panties down, his fingers currently entering me.

"You're so wet already, Sora… You must really be looking forward to this." Haru said while his fingers worked their magic down below, before bringing his head down to kiss and suck on my nipples.

"Of course I am, dummy! Now hurry up and stick this in me!" I replied and grabbed his hard member through his trousers. Even through the cloth, it felt warm in my hand as it throbbed.

"As you wish, Sora." Haru said and gently pushed down onto the bed. I smirked at him and began to pull his trousers down, revealing his fully erect manhood to me.

"Fuck my brains out." I said to him and licked my lips in anticipation.

Haru then positioned himself just outside my entrance. _Just do it! Plunge that thing into me!_ Haru teased me a little by rubbing my wet folds with his tip, but then pushed himself inside of me suddenly. In one thrust, he was all the way inside of me, pushing against my cervix. I began moaning loudly as Haru started to rhythmically thrusting in and out of me, pushing himself as deep inside of me as possible each time. This is what true bliss was for me, to be fucked hard by my twin brother, Haru. After some time, Haru lowered himself down on me, capturing my lips with his. I kept his head in place as our tongues clashed with each other, all the while Haru kept his pace. Haru moved one of his hands to my chest and began to pleasure my breasts, pinching my nipples while groping them. All of the combined stimulation was beginning to get to me, as I felt an orgasm building up.

"Haaaah…. Haruuu…." I said once Haru broke the kiss, both of us breathing heavily. "Dont'… stop…. moving… AAAAAAAHHH!" Haru began thrusting into me with increased speed, which quickly brought me over the edge. I twitched frantically as a wave of pleasure washed over me, manifesting itself as a powerful orgasm. I could feel my juices dripping out onto the bed, no doubt soiling the sheets, as my pussy gripped onto Haru's throbbing member.

"Ah! Sora! I-if you come suddenly like that… I'm g-gonna…!" With the little strength I had left I grabbed onto Haru and pulled him down to join me in orgasmic bliss.

After a few moments of throbbing inside of me, Haru released his seed, pouring it deep inside of me, just as the rain poured down outside. I came again when I felt his hot semen being deposited inside my womb. I held onto Haru tightly as his warmth spread around inside me, filling me up completely. Exhausted from his own orgasm, Haru collapsed onto me.

"Sora… I couldn't… hold back against that… Haaaah… I didn't expect you to… come so suddenly..." Haru said between breaths as he laid his head on my chest.

"You were the one who… started moving… so fast all of a sudden." I replied to him as I raked my fingers through his hair. "You ready to go again? I've yet to be satisfied _enough_."

"There really is no end to your libido, is there? At least let _me_ rest a little." Haru said as he pulled out of me and laid down next to me.

"Hmmm..? I think all you need is a little encouragement…" I sat up and laid my legs on top of him, moving my feet so they were touching his now limp member. "I'll just service this little guy with my stocking-clad feet for a little bit… I'm sure being the pervert that you are, Haru, you will be turned on by it..." I began to gently caress his dick with my feet, and Haru shuddered at the act. _Have I found another one of his weaknesses? I'll need to wear my stockings more often from now on…_

Before I could please Haru any further, a bright flash of light coming from outside, accompanied by a very loud boom caused both of us to jump. _This storm… that scared even me… But… wait… Isn't the sound of thunder supposed to come_ after _the flash, and not at the same time? That would mean…_

"That was… very close to us." Haru said, putting my thoughts into words. "Extremely close, I should say." Both of us looked out of the window on the opposite side of the cottage, when suddenly, a flaming branch fell right by it onto the ground. "Yep! Very close to us indeed." Haru said and quickly got up from the bed, pulling his trousers back up as he walked over to the window.

Despite knowing that Haru wouldn't be able to see me, I pouted and scowled, but followed after him. When I looked out the window, I froze. The lightning had struck one of the large pine trees outside the house, setting it on fire. But the fire wasn't the biggest problem, it only illuminated a larger one, as both Haru and I clearly saw that the tree had been split open, and a part of it was threatening to fall directly onto the cottage.

"Sora!" Haru shouted. "Get my phone and run out onto the porch, quickly" He then said and pointed towards the dining table. I was dazed for a moment, but nodded to him and ran over to the table. I looked back as I picked up his phone, and saw Haru taking my dress from the floor, before I rushed to the door and opened it.

I saw another flash of lightning and heard a loud boom shortly afterwards as I exited the cottage. _Raijin sure is mad at us today…_ Amidst the rain I heard another loud sound, as the tree that had been struck by lightning finally gave into gravity, crashing down onto the roof of the cottage.

"Haru!" I shouted as I began to fear for the worst, but before I could go back inside, the door was slammed open and Haru ran into me, my dress in one hand and a blanket in the other.

"That was… close. Get dressed and wrap yourself up in this, I need to call Hideki." Haru said as he handed me the things he was carrying.

I nodded to him and gave him his phone, then began to put my dress back on. The porch had some protection from the rain, thanks to the roof extending over it, but because of the strong winds, the rain found its way to soak us as well. Haru managed to get a hold of Hideki quite quickly, as he was soon explaining the situation to him over the phone, leaving out some details about our lovemaking session, of course. While they were talking, I wrapped the blanket around myself and looked inside the cottage. The fallen tree had caused a part of the roof to collapse, the debris reaching all the way to the bed. _If we had still been there when that had happened…_ I shivered and shook my head to clear the negative thoughts out of my head. Soon, Haru came to me as he ended the call with Hideki.

"Hideki said that he would call the emergency number so we can get some help. He might also call some people he knows in Taivalkoski to see if we could get a place to stay for the night." Haru said and looked off into the distance and shivered a little.

"Haru." I said, and my brother turned to look at me. "You'll catch a cold." I raised the blanket up, inviting Haru to snuggle underneath it with me.

"Look at you, already acting all motherly." Haru said with a smile as he took my invitation. "If you keep at it like this, you'll do fine when we get children."

I smiled back at him and snuggled up with him as we waited for help to arrive, which didn't take that long. After only a few minutes, we heard the sirens from the backyard as a fire engine came to the scene to douse the fire that the lightning had caused. One of the firemen knew English, and explained to us what Hideki had told them. While they were putting out the fire, they helped us salvage a bit of our belongings from the debris, while also giving us some raincoats to protect us from the rain. They also allowed us to hitch a ride with them to the Fire Station, where we could dry up, and we accepted their offer. We were given some coffee to warm ourselves up, while Hideki called Haru again, telling us that he had gotten hold of Maria, who was willing to take us in for a night. I was reluctant in accepting help from that blonde bitch, but Haru managed to persuade me, saying that we should take any help we can get. Through Hideki, we arranged that Maria would come to the Fire Station and take us to her apartment from there. As expected, it didn't take long for her to arrive.

"Haruka! Sora! Are you two alright? I heard what happened from Hideki." Maria asked as she entered the Fire Station, where we were currently sitting in the entrance of.

"Yes, we managed to get out unscathed, unlike Hideki's summer cottage." Haru replied to her. "Hideki told us that you could give us a place to stay for the night, is that right?" He then asked her.

"Yes! You guys can stay over at my apartment, I live nearby. My little brother is staying over there, too, since my parents are out of town, but we should be able to make do." Maria replied. _Her little brother is there? Oh, this might actually be interesting._

"We'll take you up on your offer, then." I said and stood up. "Let's go, then. I don't like wasting time." I walked over to Maria and placed a hand on her shoulder, then whispered to her. " _Have you given thought to what I said to you on Monday?_ "

"Huh?" Maria jumped a bit when I asked her that. "O-oh, right. Maybe… a little… I don't know…" She then said quietly. I glanced back at Haru, who was looking at us with a curious expression.

"I'm a little surprised that you're this willing to go, Sora, since you were reluctant at first, but I won't press the issue any further. You said your apartment was nearby?" Haru said as he stood up and walked over to us.

"Yes, it is. I've only got one umbrella, but you two can have it. I've got my raincoat, so I should be fine, as it's not too far away." As Maria said that, she handed me the umbrella she was carrying. "Let's go, shall we?"

Haru and I both nodded to her, and after saying our goodbyes to the firemen who had helped us, the three of us left for Maria's apartment. The storm still wasn't showing any signs of clearing up any time soon, and even with the umbrella, we were still getting a bit drenched. Luckily, as Maria had said, her apartment wasn't too far away from the Fire Station, and it only took us a few minutes to arrive there. While at first I had been reluctant to come here, after I learned that Maria's little brother was here as well, I got a little excited, as this would be a great opportunity to turn her into a total brocon.

* * *

As soon as we arrived at Maria's apartment, her little brother was at the door to greet us. When Maria took her wet raincoat off, he was immediately on her, capturing his older sister on his embrace. _They really must be close, then, if he missed her that much after she was only gone for such a small amount of time. A part of me is a little jealous that Sora and I weren't able to be that close when we were younger, but that would have probably meant that we would never have become as close as we are now._ I looked over to my twin sister, who was currently taking off her shoes, and a smile made its way onto my face. _And I'm really happy about how close we are._

"I'm sorry if how clingy my little brother is creeps you out. He's been like this since Tuesday, when my parents left him in my care. Though I don't blame him, I don't get many chances to hang out with my cute little brother either~!" Maria said as he dislodged his brother from herself, then ruffled his hair with a smile on her face.

"Don't worry about it. You know what mine and Sora's childhood was like, so we know what it's like to be away from your siblings." I said and wrapped a hand around Sora's shoulder. "But because of all the hardships we faced, we're closer than ever nowadays."

"Haru..." Sora said with a smile and a blush on her face, placing a hand on top of mine.

"Awwww… You two are just so adorable! Now, should we go over the sleeping arrangements? There's only two bedrooms, though, and Martti is currently sleeping in the other one." As Maria finished, I saw a smirk appear on Sora's face.

"Haru and I can share a bed, you don't have to worry about that. You could then share a bed with your brother, as well." Sora replied to Maria, latching onto my arm in the process.

"Eh?! W-would that… really be okay? I mean… We are siblings so..." Maria said while fidgeting a little.

"Of course, it's fine precisely _because_ you're siblings. Haru and I are okay with doing it, so I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be too." I could see that Sora was suppressing a grin on her face. _We're 'okay' with it for different reasons though… Wait, is Sora actually trying to… get Maria and her little brother… together? That… would explain some things…_ "I'm sure your little brother would also like that."

Maria then began to explain Sora's proposal to her little brother, who was quite soon blushing at the idea of sharing a bed his sister. Well, that's what I guessed, at least, since I didn't understand a word they were saying. _Judging by his reaction… I can see why_ _Sora called him a siscon back then…_ Unlike my sister, I couldn't suppress the grin on my face. _Sora you sneaky devil._

"W-well… Martti is okay with it, so… I guess that's settled then?" Maria said after her little brother left us. "He'll go pick up his things and bring them to my room, so feel free to follow after him and… settle down, I guess."

"We'll do just that, then. And Maria, thanks a lot for this. Hideki said he would try to come here tomorrow, but he might not be able to come here until Saturday or Sunday..." I said and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Ah, don't worry. Stay as long as you need to. While you get settled in, I'll go and fix up something for us to eat, alright?" Both of us nodded to Maria as she left for the kitchen.

With that, Sora and I took what little belongings we had with us and headed to the room we saw Martti enter just a little while ago. He had left the door open, and we saw him piling up various things, no doubt getting his things ready to be moved to Maria's room. Sora tugged on my sleeve and leaned towards me.

" _I want to have a bit of a chat with him._ " Sora whispered to me with a slight smirk.

" _What are you planning now,_ _Sora?_ " I asked her in turn, glancing at Martti, who had now turned to look at us with a curious expression.

" _Nothing much. Just_ _going to ask him some things about his sister._ " Sora replied with a wink, then made her way over to Martti. " _Hello again, Martti. I'd like to talk to you about something, if you'd come with me? My brother will_ _sort out your stuff, okay?_ " She said to him in a honeyed voice. _Wait, what did she just say I would do?_

Before I could protest, Sora lead Martti away from the room in order to talk to him in private. I sighed and began to organize our stuff into the room, while 'sorting out' the things I believed could belong to Martti. _If I had to guess, Sora is probably trying to coerce Martti into doing…_ something _about his relationship with Maria. I don't really know if I'm okay with this, though. We don't want anyone messing in our affairs concerning our relationship, and I wouldn't want to mess in anyone else's affairs either. But… if these siblings share_ _feelings similar to the ones we have… We'll just have to see._ It didn't take long for Sora and Martti to return, and then helped me sort out our stuff. We conversed a little at the same time, and I could tell Martti wasn't as good with his English as Maria was, but he was probably better than the other kids his age. As we finished up sorting our things, Martti took us to the dining area, where Maria was currently finishing up cooking a meal for us. We talked about some random topics while we ate as the thunderstorm raged outside, the heavy raindrops hitting the window rhythmically.

 _I wonder if something good will come out of the hard times we've just faced, like the growing of crop after a storm, or the fertilization of the land from the ash of a tree struck by lightning?_ I thought to myself as I gazed out of the window, watching the thunderstorm. Smiling, I reached my hand to hold onto Sora's underneath the table.

 _I certainly believe that to be the case._

* * *

 **AN: Finally done with this. A slightly shorter chapter, but this should do. As my current semester has me quite busy, updating my stories might be a bit more difficult, as I'll only really have the time for them on Fridays and weekends, so you can expect updating to be a little slower. Still, I apologise that it took two weeks for this chapter. I have some plans ready for the next chapter, and I should hopefully be able to release it within a week or so. I make no promises, but I'll try to get it out as soon as possible!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hello hello! I'm back with another chapter of this story, finally. I got sick last week, which in turn caused the update I had planned for my Angel Beats! Fanfiction (Changing Fate) to be pushed back, which then obviously in turn resulted in this one also being pushed back. Fear not, though, for I am now no longer sick, so I can put more time into writing. I've also got a short holiday coming up that will last a week, and I'll be writing my ass off during it! I've got another story planned that I will most likely start writing during that holiday, but I won't be publishing it until I've finished one of my already existing stories.**

 **The only hints I'll be giving about the new story is that it will be based on an Anime I've "recently" watched, where the MC is voiced by Kobayashi Yuusuke, and that I will be stepping out of my own comfort zone while writing it. And as you may expect, it will be a romance story.**

 **Without delaying this any further, let's get to it, shall we?**

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – Taking a Step**

I slowly opened my eyes as I stirred awake from my slumber. The sound of raindrops rapidly hitting the window were accompanied by a loud boom of thunder, telling me that the storm hadn't calmed a single bit from yesterday. Sora was sleeping soundly next to me, with both of her arms wrapped around my torso and a leg draped over my waist. _Sora… you're so clingy. But I don't mind it at all._ I thought and smiled to myself as I gently stroked my sister's cheek, and a small smile formed on her face as well.

"Are you awake, Sora?" I asked quietly, but received no reply from her. _I'll take that as a no, then._

I carefully lifted her arm and freed myself from her embrace, causing Sora to stir in her sleep a little, though she didn't quite wake up. I stood up from the bed and moved the curtain a little to peek outside, and was greeted by a flash of lightning, illuminating the otherwise dark cityscape. The boom was heard a few seconds later as I was about to leave the room, giving one last glance towards Sora before closing the door behind me. _Maria and Martti_ _are nowhere to be seen… They must have already left for their respective schools._ I glanced at the clock in the kitchen. _About twenty past_ _ten_ _…_ _I think Maria said yesterday that she get from school at around 2 pm, so we've got some time with just the two of us. I'll also have to call Hideki at some point, too._ I stretched and sat down at the dinner table, noticing a little piece of paper on the table. Picking it up, I realized it was a message written in English left by Maria.

 _"Good morning, Haruka and Sora! Martti and I woke up and noticed you two were still sleeping, and we didn't want to wake you two up. The two of us should be back around 3 pm, give or take a little, after we're done with some shopping. If you two want to go and have a little soak outside, there's a spare key on the desk in my room, and there's some food in the fridge if you get peckish. In case Hideki does show up today, I've already told him my address, so you guys can let him in. I think that's about everything, so I'll see you later today!"_

 _\- Maria_

I placed the message back onto the table and gazed out of the window. _This storm isn't giving up any time soon, huh? I doubt Hideki will be able to get here today._

"Haru." Sora's voice brought me out of my thoughts, and I turned around to see her standing by the door. "You left me alone in the bed." She continued and pouted.

"Sorry. You looked like you were sleeping so peacefully, so I didn't want to wake you." I replied to her with a smile and moved the chair next to me, gesturing her to sit on it.

"I woke up the moment you left me, Haru. I've slept together with you for so long, I can't sleep without you any more." Sora said matter-of-factly and walked over to sit next to me. "Where are Maria and her little brother?" Sora then asked me.

"Already left for school." I replied and gestured towards the message she left us. Sora picked it up and skimmed through it quickly. "It'll take a while before they get back here. I was thinking of calling Hideki soon to see if he can make it here today, and talk with him about our plans, since we can't just impose on Maria for too long."

"So… We're here alone for multiple hours, then?" Sora placed a hand on my thigh and gently caressed it. _I'm not even surprised that's the first thing she suggests…_ I placed my own hand on top of hers and stopped the motions.

"There's just no helping you, is there? I don't think we should do it while we're here. We don't want to make a mess of things."

"Then we'll just have to be careful. Come on, Haru. I know you want it." Sora freed her hand from my grasp and brought it up to my hair, gently raking through it.

"Well… you may be correct, but… We have to think rationally. Even if we've got the chance to do it here, I don't think we should. I feel like it would be… _disrespectful_ towards Maria." Sora sighed and pulled her hand away, then rested her head on the table.

"Whatever."

"I'll make it up for you, I promise." I said and gently patted her on the head.

"I'm getting some _Déjà-vu_ vibes here… But fine. We won't have sex while we're here, but I still want _affection_ and _attention_ from you, Haru." Sora lifted her head up as a flash of light could be seen outside the window.

"Of course, Sora." I leaned in and captured my sister's lips with my own. Both of us closed our eyes as we enjoyed the intimate kiss we shared, all the while the storm raged outside, bringing a loud boom into our ears. After a few seconds, we separated and I could briefly see a look of disappointment on Sora's face.

"I'll be wanting a lot more where that came from, Haru." Sora said to me and smirked. "But for now, I'm hungry." She then said and looked towards the fridge on the other side of the room.

"Well, let's see what Maria left us and I'll see if I can make us something."

I got up and made my way to the fridge. As I opened it, I knew why exactly Maria had to go shopping today, as the fridge was quite empty. A carton of milk, a bottle of juice, a couple of microwave meals, some vegetables and what I presumed were various cooking ingredients were pretty much everything I could see. What caught my eye however were two plates covered with aluminium foil. _Could these be what Maria meant?_ I took one of the plates and placed on the counter next to the fridge. Lifting up the aluminium foil revealed a pile on pancakes underneath. _This must be what they had f_ _or_ _breakfast._ I took out the other plate and peeked under the aluminium foil on that one as well. _Looks like some meatballs and mashed potatoes… She must have either prepared this on in advance, or then it's leftovers. Either way, it might make for a good lunch if we get hungry again before Maria and Martti get back._ I put the plate back into the fridge and brought the pancakes to the table where Sora was waiting.

"Maria left us these for breakfast. I could also see if there's some toast, if you don't want to eat pancakes." I said as I placed the plate down and removed the aluminium foil.

"Pancakes are fine, as long as there's something to go along with it." Sora said to me.

"Alright, I'll see if there's some jam somewhere."

I took two smaller plates from the cabinet and placed a pancake on one them, then put it into the microwave to heat it up. I found some strawberry jam in another cabinet, and left it on the table while we waited for our pancakes. Soon enough, we were enjoying the pancakes Maria had made for us. We ate together in silence, the only sounds coming from our cutlery and the storm outside. _Hmm… This might be a good time to inquire about her plans regarding Maria and Martti… Yeah, this'll be as good a time as any._

"Sora." My sister lifted her gaze to meet mine. "What… did you tell Martti yesterday? Or rather, what are you planning regarding the two of them?" I decided to just straight up ask her about it. Sora looked down at her plate for a moment before answering.

"What do you think I'm planning?" Sora asked me and took a piece of pancake into her mouth.

"Well… Seems like you're trying to 'hook them up', so to speak, to get them into a relationship like we have." I said and scratched my cheek.

"There you have it then." Sora finished her pancake and held out her plate. "Another one."

"Right." I sighed and took Sora's plate, and putting another pancake on it to warm up. "I still want to know what you said to Martti, though." I said as I sat down after putting the plate in the microwave.

"I asked him what he feels towards his sister, then had a little talk with him about how he should act upon his feelings." Sora said and began to play with her fork. "I told him I'd talk to Maria today as well, and that he should 'make his move' afterwards."

"You've really thought this out, huh? But… are you… sure about this? I mean… we don't want anyone interfering in _our_ affairs, and I'd say it works both ways..."

"Yes, I am sure. Martti is totally in love with his sister, that is certain. I don't know precisely what Maria feels, but I've told her to think about her feelings before, and I want to talk about it again with her today. I'm positive though that she does feel _something_ towards her brother, and with a little push, I'm sure it'll work out."

"What if it doesn't? It'll cause things to become awkward between them, and it might result in problems for us as well. And even if it does work out… Their father didn't seem like the kind of person who would just accept something like that." The microwave made a 'ding' sound and I stood up to give Sora her pancake.

"That's their problem. You said yourself that we wouldn't stay here for long." Sora took the plate from me and let out a small sigh. "...I just want to help them with this. There's a possibility for them to find happiness like we have, and while I'm here, I might as well help them." She said quietly and bit into the pancake. I was left a little speechless by her. _Sora… You're caring enough for other people to help them? You've really changed, huh. Although…_

"Sora… Could you perhaps be doing this because… You think Maria might be… _interested_ in me?" Sora stopped chewing and stared at me for a few seconds.

"No." She replied after swallowing. "Initially, I did have that suspicion about that, but not any more. And even if she is going for you, I'll just have to make _my_ position clear as your lover." She then aggressively stabbed the pancake with her fork to drive her point home.

"Let's… hope it doesn't come to that." I let out a small sigh and turned my gaze outside and watched the storm outside for a few moments. _Sora can be stubborn… I guess I'll just see where this whole thing goes._ "Alright, I won't stop you then. I think I'll see about calling Hideki now and discuss the situation, okay?" I said as I stood up and walked over to Sora.

Sora nodded and resumed her meal, cutting up a piece of pancake to shove into her mouth. I smiled and ruffled my sister's hair a little before making my way back to our room, glancing at the clock on the way. _Nearly 1_ _1_ _… Hideki should be at work at the moment, unless he's closed up shop for today. He would probably inform us if he's coming this way, but he hasn't called us._ After returning to our room, I picked up my phone from the table and unlocked it. _No new messages. I guess I'll just have to call him then._ I quickly found Hideki's number from the contact list and dialled it.

"Ah! Haruka-kun! _Ohio_!" Hideki's cheerful voice greeted me as he picked up the call.

" _Ohio_ , Hideki. Are you at work right now?" I walked over to the window and gazed out into the storm. I had been captivated by storms ever since I was little, so I couldn't help but be entranced by it. Even if it did cause some huge problems for us.

"Yes, I am. The storm has cleared up a bit over here, but it's still very rainy. I might be able to drive over there tonight, if that's what you're asking."

"Well, to put it simply, yes. We're still at Maria's place at the moment, and she should be returning at around 3 pm today. If you do come pick us up, I'll assume that we'll be spending the rest of our vacation at your place, then?"

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that, Haruka-kun. You see, there's a friend of mine that I've mentioned you two to, and he seemed to be very excited about meeting you." Hideki paused, waiting for my response.

"What… did you tell him about us?" _I doubt Hideki would reveal the relationship Sora and I have, but… The way he put that seems odd._

"Nothing too much. Just that I'm currently offering two teenaged Japanese siblings a place to stay. He does also know your names, of course."

"What does he want with us, then?"

"Well, first of all, he's very interested in Japanese culture and customs, similar to Maria. Secondly, he works in the tourism business, and he wants to work with Japanese tourists in order to improve the experience Japanese tourists have when travelling here." Hideki explained to me.

"So… you're saying he wants to work with us, then? What do we get out of it?"

"I asked him the same question, and while he couldn't make any promises, helping him would likely include staying at a hotel and going on tours. In other words, you would get a place to stay other than my house."

"That sounds… pretty good. What about payment? I doubt we'd be doing this for free."

"That's the best part! You'd be paying him by helping him. As I said, he is looking to work with tourists to improve the experience they have when travelling here. You would probably have to talk over the details with him, but that much should be guaranteed. And if it isn't, I can pay for a hotel room for you two while you help him out."

"Hmmm… Alright, I'll ask Sora what she thinks, and we'll decide on what to do. Could you tell me a little more about him, while we're at it?"

"Certainly! He's a Finnish man who goes by the name of Harri. He's quite bilingual, being fluent in English, Swedish and German, and he also knows some Japanese and Spanish. He lives primarily in Rovaniemi, a city to the north of Oulu, and that's where he operates." _Rovaniemi… I've seen the name on maps, that's for sure. It's a popular place for Japanese tourists to visit._ "I think he's already got a few Japanese tourists that have agreed to help him, but since I told him you two were close friends of mine, he wanted to meet you two personally. I'll call him today on my lunch break and inform him about your current predicament, so if you could have your answer by tonight, I could pick you two up tomorrow and send you off to him. If you two want to, that is."

"Yeah, I'll give you a call later today, probably after Maria and her little brother have returned. Talk to you then, and possibly see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, take care, you two!"

Another flash of light could be seen outside as I ended the call with Hideki, followed by a boom of thunder shortly afterwards. I placed the phone back onto the desk in the room, and immediately afterwards, the room was engulfed by darkness. _Huh? That's odd. Did Sora turn off the lights?_ After my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I turned towards the door and reached for the light switch. As I pressed it, however, nothing happened. _That's… not good._

"Sora? Are you there?" As another flash of light illuminated the room, I picked up my phone again to act as a light source.

"Haru!" Sora's voice came from the kitchen, and I made my way over there with the help of the small light coming from my phone.

"It seems the storm cut out the power. Did anything happen when the lights suddenly went out? Are you hurt?" I asked and took my sister into my embrace.

"I'm fine. I had just put the remaining pancakes back into the fridge and was sitting down when it happened. How about you? Are you okay?" Sora asked and looked into my eyes in the darkness, or faces illuminated by my phone.

"Yeah. I just finished talking with Hideki when the lights went out. I'll admit, at first I thought you might have turned off the lights in order to _take me_ in the dark, but flicking the light switch disproved that."

"Hmm… It would be much harder for you to resist in the dark..." I felt Sora's hand creeping up my torso, and she closed the distance between our faces.

"Sora..." Was all I managed to say before her lips crashed onto mine. I saw Sora's closed eyes for a brief moment when lightning struck outside, illuminating the room. We stayed like this for a few seconds, until Sora broke the kiss.

"Haru..." Sora squeezed my shoulder, but then let go. "...I'm really having to hold myself back right now, you know? I really want to just… _do you_ right here and now, but… You did promise to make it up to me for not having sex while we're here… and I'm looking forward to that." Sora reluctantly separated herself from me, but stayed close, as it was very dark. "What did Hideki say to you? Is he coming over today?" She then asked, as if nothing had just happened.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I needed to talk to you about that." In the little amount of light provided by my phone, I saw Sora raise an eyebrow. "You see, Hideki had a proposal for us. He has a Finnish friend called Harri, who is looking for Japanese tourists that are willing to cooperate with him. Hideki told him about us, and he wants our help."

"Go on." Sora slowly made her way to the dinner table and sat down. I followed suit and sat down next to her, keeping hold of my phone so we could have at least a little bit of light.

"Apparently, he wants to make the experience that tourists get here better, and for that, he needs the help of the tourists themselves. By helping him, we should be able to get a hotel room, the payment being us helping him. Some Japanese tourists are already cooperating with him." I explained to Sora what Hideki told me.

"Hmmm… Alright, a private hotel room sounds nice. But, is Hideki coming here today?"

"He said he'll probably be able to come here tomorrow, and depending on what we want to do, he'll either take us to Harri, or back to his place. What do you say?"

"As long as we get some _alone time_ I'm okay with it. Either way, I'll by done with Maria and Martti by tonight. Do you know what hotel we would be staying at?"

"No, but it will be in Rovaniemi, a city to the north of Oulu. From what I know, it's a popular place for tourists, especially during winter." As I was saying this, my phone suddenly began vibrating in my hand. I looked at the screen to see a message from an unknown number.

"What is it?" Sora asked and leaned towards me, taking a peek at my phone.

"It's a message from an unknown number." I said and opened up the message.

 _"Hello, Maria here! Hideki gave me your phone number, Haruka, in case something happened. Has the storm cut out the electricity there as well? Over here, the whole school is dark! The teachers said something about lightning striking a weak point in the power grid, so half the city is without electricity until it's fixed. Since that could take hours, the rest of the school day has been cancelled for today. I'm on my way to Martti's school now to see if they'll let him go, too, so we'll be back quite soon!"_

"Oh, it's Maria." I said after reading her message. "She says she got my number from Hideki, and that because the storm has cut out the electricity, they'll be coming back earlier."

"Oh? Well, that's good, I guess. Gives me more time to execute my plans." Sora said, and in the faint light, I could see a grin on her face.

"For their sake, I hope things work out. I wouldn't want for their relationship to turn for the worse, since they're already so close." I happened to notice that the battery on my phone was getting low. _Hmmm… I could ask if she's any candles or a flashlight anywhere._ I began to type a response to Maria.

"It'll be fine. I'm positive that it will work out, and if it doesn't, I'm sure that they'll be fine anyway. What are you typing?" Sora leaned closer to me again.

"I'm asking her if she's got any candles here, or a flashlight, so we don't have to stumble around in the darkness. My phone will run out of battery soon as well."

I finished typing my message, and it only took a minute or two for me to get a reply, saying that there was a flashlight in the desk in her room. I left Sora in the kitchen as I made my way to Maria's room. I couldn't see well in the dark, but her room seemed quite normal. A bed by the window with a nightstand next to it, a bookcase on the right side of the room and her desk on the opposite side, with a computer on it, along with various other things, such as notebooks and pencils. I walked over to the desk and began opening the drawers to find the flashlight. After rummaging through nearly all of them, I noticed that the last drawer, the one on the bottom left, was locked, but the key was still in the lock. _It's probably locked for a reason, but… I couldn't find the flashlight in any of the other drawers…_ I turned the key in the lock and opened the drawer, revealing the flashlight inside. I put my phone in my pocket and turned the flaslight on, which was a significant upgrade from the weak light of the phone. As I was about to close the drawer, something inside of it caught my eye. It was a photo with two people on it, a boy and a girl. They were sitting down on what looked like a rock, with the boy sitting in the older girl's lap with the girl's arms wrapped around his waist. Both of them had big smiles on their faces. The photo must have been quite a few years old, but I could easily recognize Maria and Martti as the girl and the boy in it. I picked up the photo and turned it around, seeing something written in Finnish on the other side, along with a date. _The date is probably when the photo was taken, but…_ _I wonder what 'Rakas pikkuveljeni' means_ _ **[1]**_ _? The symbol next to the writing is obviously a heart. Wait, what am I doing? I'm invading her privacy!_ I placed the photo back in the drawer and closed it before heading back to Sora, but not before briefly noticing something else in the drawer as well.

That wasn't the only photo in it, and the brief glimpse I got told me that _all_ of them were pictures of Martti.

* * *

After Haru returned with the flashlight, the two of us sat around in the kitchen, waiting for Maria and her little brother to return. With the increased light that the flashlight provided, I noticed that something was… _off_ about Haru. He seemed slightly uneasy, and looked like he was deep in thought as he stared off into the storm. _I don't think he was like this just a moment ago… Was there something in Maria's room that caused this?_ _I don't think he would straight up tell me…_

"Haru. Give me the flashlight." I said and reached out my hand.

"Huh? What for?" Haru asked as he turned towards me, but handed the flashlight to me anyway.

"Didn't Maria say she had some English Manga in her room? I'm bored, so I might as well try reading some." I replied as I stood up.

"Alright. Be careful, Sora."

I quickly made my way to Maria's room in the darkness. _I think the message Maria sent to Haru said that the flashlight was in her desk…_ I opened the door and scanned the room with the flashlight, spying the desk on the left. I couldn't see anything out of place among the neatly organized notebooks and other studying materials that could have caused the kind of reaction from Haru that I saw. _I'm certain Haru saw something here that made him feel uneasy._ _I don't think he would just suddenly start worrying about something without telling me._ I looked around the desk more carefully, and noticed that one of the drawers had a lock with a key in it. _Could this be..?_ I turned the key in the lock and opened the drawer, peeking inside while shining the flashlight inside.

"What do we have here..?" I whispered to myself as a smile creeped onto my face.

Inside the drawer were photographs, all featuring one particular person. Martti, Maria's little brother. I placed the flashlight onto the table and began to look through the photos. Many of them were ordinary photos, probably taken by either Maria herself, or her parents, where either only Martti or both of the siblings could be seen. Some of the photos, however, were a bit different. I'm not an expert at photography, but even I could tell from the angles that the photos were taken from, and the positions the people were in the photos, that they were taken _in secret_. From the crack of a doorway there, with a zooming lens in this one, and so forth. _Maria told us that she had found her little brother having a collection of photos like this about her… Could it be that… she was lying to us? It all makes sense now. She told that to us because she was asking if we thought it was 'okay', but she wasn't asking it because she caught her little brother doing it._

 _She asked it because_ she _was the one doing it._

Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall in place. I looked on the backside of the photos as well, revealing text that I couldn't read, as well as dates. _She's been taking these photos over the course of about 4 years… Although some of these are older than that, but they're probably all taken by their parents. This is certainly an interesting discovery. I'll have to bring it up with Maria when she comes back._ I placed the photos back into the drawer and locked it, leaving the key in the same position as before. _Haru must have seen this as well, since I doubt anything else would have caused him to become so uneasy._ I walked over to Maria's bookcase and quickly skimmed through it, noticing that her collection of Manga had a suspicious amount of Manga that featured female protagonists with little brothers, or male protagonists with older sisters. Among these, I spotted the first volume of _Haganai_ , and decided to take it, before Haru started to wonder why I was taking so long. _I won't tell_ _him what I found. Not yet, at least._ I made my way back to the kitchen, where Haru was still sat down, watching the storm outside. I sat down next to him and began reading in the light of the flashlight.

" _Haganai_? Haven't you already read that one?" Haru asked once he saw the Manga I had brought with me.

"I have, but it was the only interesting one there. Turns out, Maria has a lot of Manga featuring older sisters and their younger brothers." I replied to him and grinned, though I don't think he saw it, given that I had aimed the flashlight at the book.

"Really? Well… I guess… considering that she herself has a little brother, I can kinda understand that..." Haru trailed off and turned to look towards the window again. _His reaction confirms it – he saw those photographs in Maria's drawer._

I smirked and continued reading. I had read the whole thing before, just like Haru had said, but never in English, so I had a little difficulty reading it. This in turn caused it to take significantly longer for me to get through the book than it would have normally. Haru stayed by my side the whole time, gazing out of the window and occasionally making small talk with me. I liked the silence and peace we had, and I know Haru did too. It was comfortable, and we were accustomed to it. _When we are together like this, in solitude, is when we are least alone_. By the time I was finished, we heard the front door open as Maria and her little brother returned home. _I'll have to get Maria alone with me as soon as I get a chance._

"Haruka? Sora? Are you here?" Maria's voice came from the entrance, and I closed the book in my hands and placed it down on the table.

"Yeah, we are. Can you make it here or do you need the flashlight?" Haru asked and picked up the flashlight from the table.

"Martti has his phone, we'll be fine." Maria responded. Shortly afterwards, the siblings arrived in the kitchen, with Martti shining a light from his phone, which he shut off after seeing us with the flashlight. " _Kon'nichiwa_! _How did you two manage without any electricity_?" Maria asked in English as she and Martti brought in some shopping bags.

" _We woke up some time before it happened, so we were okay. We ate some pancakes for breakfast, and mostly just hanged around here. Did you manage to get all of your shopping done?_ " Haru replied to her and gestured towards the shopping bags.

" _Yeah, we did. Only half the city is dark, so we managed to find a store that was still open. We didn't buy as many perishable goods, though, given that the fridge won't be working until things get fixed. Martti happened to find a battery-powered lamp, though, so we can have some light._ " On cue, Martti brought out a box from his shopping bag and placed it onto the table.

" _Good. Means I don't have to read in the dark._ " I said and stood up, picking up the book from the table in the process. "I'm going to go and pick up the next volume from your room, would you like to join me? _I'd like to talk with you about something._ " I started in Japanese, but said the last sentence in English, then glanced at Martti. It was hard to read his expressions in the dark, but his eyes met mine and he nodded. _Looks like he got the hint. Good boy._

" _You can go, Maria. Haruka can help me._ " Martti said and pointed at the box on the table.

"Ah..." Maria glanced between me and her little brother, then locked her gaze with mine. " _O-okay, Sora. I'll use my phone's flashlight, so we don't trip over something on the way there_." Maria said and pulled out her phone, putting on the flashlight on it and then walking up to me.

I stayed silent and started to walk towards Maria's room, with her keeping pace with me, lighting the way with her phone. It didn't take long for us to reach her room, and as I opened the door, a flash of lightning could be seen outside the window, followed shortly afterwards by a loud boom. _Well, that isn't ominous at all._ I thought and grinned as I made my way over to the bookcase.

" _Looks like the storm isn't clearing up any time soon, huh?_ " Maria said as she moved over to the window and pulled the curtains in front of it.

"Hmm." I returned the first volume of _Haganai_ to where I took it from and picked up the next two volumes.

" _So, what did you want to talk about?_ " _There it is._

" _I asked this yesterday, but have you given_ it _some more thought?_ " I walked over to her desk and placed the books on it, then leaned against it.

" _Well..._ " Maria fidgeted in place and looked away awkwardly while lowering her hand, causing the light from her phone to be directed towards the floor. _If I'm correct… this is all an act._

"You know..." I continued in Japanese. "I saw a lot of interesting Manga in your bookcase." Maria turned to look at me again. "There were a lot of Manga featuring little brothers and their older sisters as the main characters." I moved my hands behind my back, making it look like I was using them to support myself on her desk, but reached down towards the drawers. _I can't quite reach… I'll have to sit down._

"Oh, you saw? I… I guess I like that sort of stuff… You know, since I've got a little brother myself." Maria replied in Japanese and lifted her hand again, shining the light towards me.

"I figured." I kicked my feet a little and 'accidentally' hit the chair, then moved to sit down on it, angling it so I was facing Maria, with my hands behind me. "Do you like _Haganai_ as well? I saw quite a few volumes of that."

"Y-yes, I do. At first I got interested in it because I thought Sena looked a lot like me, and I got hooked onto the series. I don't have all the volumes, but I've been thinking of reading the original novels, as well. _But… Did you only want to talk to me about the kind of literature I enjoy?_ " Maria switched to English at the end. _Just a little more, and I'll have this open._

" _No. As you may have guessed, this is about what I asked you when you first told us that you found photographs that your little brother had taken. The photos of_ you _._ " I managed to turn the key in the drawer, and pulled it open as silently as possible. Thankfully, the raindrops hitting the window masked the sounds I was making.

"Well… _I guess I have been thinking about it, but…_ "

" _You don't have to think any more. You see..._ " I picked up a couple photos from the drawer and slowly brought my hands out from behind my back. " _I found these earlier today._ " A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the room, and I could see an expression of shock on Maria's face as I showed her the photos.

" _Those are… When did you..?_ " Maria took a step towards me, and I pulled my hands back defensively.

" _Hold on. Don't worry._ " I stood up from my seat and continued in Japanese. "You lied to us, didn't you? You didn't discover some secret stash of photographs that your little brother had. No, instead, you yourself have a secret stash of photos of _him_." The boom of thunder reached our ears as I finished.

"..." Maria stayed quiet for a few seconds and looked away. "It's wrong, isn't it..." She took another step towards me. "I know it. But I don't care." She paused for a few moments before continuing. "You're doing this because you think it's wrong. I won't let you tell Martti." She began to slowly move towards me.

"That's where you're wrong. I _don't_ think it's wrong." Maria stopped in her tracks and looked at me with a perplexed expression, barely visible in the dim light provided by her phone.

"You… What?"

"I'll say it again. I don't think that it's wrong. Well, it _is_ a little weird for you to be taking photos of him in secret, but the underlying _feelings_ behind that? Totally fine by me." Maria just stood there, frozen in place.

" _Sorry? I-I think I misheard..._ " She then said in English, and I let out a sigh.

" _I don't think it's weird that you have feelings like that for your brother._ " I spelled it out for her in English. " _That's what this is, right?_ " I lifted the photographs up again. " _You've done this because you love your little brother, more than as a sibling._ "

"... _And you… Don't find that wrong?_ " Maria was still tense, but stayed still.

" _Why would I? After all..._ " I paused for a moment. _Should I tell her? Yes, yes I should. No point in hiding it from her_ _any more, not after I've found out this much._ " _...I harbour similar feelings for Haru._ " _If this doesn't convince her, I don't know what will._

" _You…_ _love your_ _twin_ _brother?_ "

" _Yes. And Haru feels the same way. We are in a relationship._ "

" _Wait, really? You two… actually have… an incestuous relationship?_ "

" _Yes._ " I placed the photos onto her desk and sat back down on the chair. "I would like to hear the answer to my question from your mouth. Now that you know of mine and Haru's relationship, you don't need to hide anything from me."

"..." Maria stayed quiet for a few moments, then took a deep breath. "You're… right. I love my little brother." I felt a smile forming on my face. _I would never have expected for things to turn out this way. Martti might not need to do anything special after all._

"Good. Now you've admitted it, tell me more about it. I don't care whether or not you do it in English or Japanese, I just want to hear you explain it." I got up and went to sit on Maria's bed, patting the place next to me.

Maria sat down next to me and placed her phone on the bed between us. She then began to explain, partly in Japanese, partly in English, about her feelings towards her little brother. She had always been close to him, and cared a great deal about him, but a few years ago, she started to realize that it might not have been just sisterly love. At first she was disgusted with herself, but slowly accepted it, and before she noticed, she was _obsessed_ with her little brother, like a classic _yandere_. She began to collect photographs of him, and soon she was taking them herself, in secret, of course. I listened to everything she had to say, even if I didn't understand everything she said in English. Maria was very energetic in talking about her little brother, and her feelings towards him. _I can see now where she gets all her enthusiasm from when talking about him._ _Maria might be slightly…_ mental _, but this should still work out fine. I wonder how much she'll squeal when Martti tells her that he has a crush on her?_ I suddenly noticed that Maria had gone silent, and was looking directly at me. _What does she want now?_

"What?" I asked her, trying to mask that I hadn't been listening to her for the past couple minutes, since I was engrossed in my thoughts.

"I… wanted to hear about… _your_ relationship. Since I told you about my feelings, I figured..." Maria said to me quietly. _Oh, I see how it is._

"I guess you've got a point. Well, what do you want to know? And just as a heads-up, I won't be telling you about our _nightly activities_."

"Nightly..?" I saw Maria's eyes widen in the low light of the room. "I-I wouldn't think of asking something like that!"

"Hmm? Don't tell me you're not interested in such activities yourself..? I'm sure you've thought of doing it with your little brother before..." I couldn't help but tease Maria about this. She was an energetic girl, and was obsessed with her little brother, but seemed to be quite timid when it came to _that_.

"I… Well… I can't _deny_ that… But… _He's… still kinda young and_ _inexperienced. Although, I'm also inexperienced when it comes to that..._ " _'Inexperienced?' The English word 'experience' with that prefix… Oh, right, I know what she means._

"Are you saying you want me to teach you some things? I'm afraid I only know what Haru is into… Although… You could just let your _instincts_ take over when the time comes. Imagine it: ' _Onee-chan will teach you and make you feel good..._ '" I couldn't suppress the grin any longer, though I doubt she could see it that well.

"I-I'll b-be fine, t-thanks." Maria paused and cleared her throat, while I snickered. " _I-I was more interested about the… general stuff about your relationship._ _A-and how you deal with… you know… other people._ " She then continued in English.

"Hmmm… _To put it simply, we don't care what other people think. This is our choice, and no-one else has a say in it._ _As for 'general stuff'…_ _I don't know. We're just a normal couple._ "

" _I-I see. What about… how did you… you know, fall in love?_ "

" _Compared to your story of slowly realizing it, it's not as grand. I've always loved Haru, and the same goes for him. He did forget about his feelings for many years, but we're together now because those feelings… re… resurfaced?_ " I stood up from the bed and stretched, then looked back at Maria. "If you don't have any more questions, I'd like to get back to reading. I'm sure there's something you need to tell your little brother, as well." I said to her, then walked over to her desk and picked up the second and third volume of _Haganai_ off it, placed the photos I had left on the desk back into the drawer and closed it.

"Ah, right. I-I'm coming."

Maria got her phone and walked over to me, locking the desk drawer before we returned to the kitchen, where Martti and Haru had managed to get the battery-powered lamp working. Maria turned off the flashlight on her phone and walked over to the table, taking a seat next to her little brother, while I sat down next to Haru.

"You certainly took your time, Sora. What did you two talk about?" Haru asked me as I plopped down in my seat and placed the books onto the table.

"Nothing much." I said and pulled Haru's sleeve to get him closer to me, then whispered into his ear. " _I told her. About us. Everything is going as I planned, perhaps even better, given what I found in her desk drawer._ " Haru's eyes widened and he looked to the other side of the table, where Maria sat silently, her little brother looking at her with a bewildered expression.

" _You.. what? What do you mean by that? You told her… about our relationship?_ " Haru whispered back to me, and I nodded. " _And you mentioned the desk drawer… So you saw it too?_ "

" _I did. Turns out, Maria is more of a brocon than I could have anticipated._ " I moved my head away from Haru and looked at Martti on the other side of the table. Once he looked at me, I nodded to him. Martti nodded back at me and swallowed, then tugged on her sister's sleeve.

 _ **(AN: I don't usually do AN's in the middle of stories, but this is here just to say that the following conversation between Maria and Martti is in English for the sake of the readers, but in actuality, they are speaking Finnish.)**_

"M-Maria..." Martti said weakly, causing Maria to turn to face her little brother.

"What is it?" Maria replied to her brother. I couldn't understand what she said, but it sounded like a question.

"I have… something to tell you." Maria's expression turned into one of extreme curiosity, and I could see a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Go ahead."

"This… is kinda embarrassing to say, but..." Martti turned his gaze towards me for a moment. "Sora said that I shouldn't… keep my feelings inside, and that I should be honest with you. I've… kept this to myself for a long time, but Sora said that there was nothing wrong with my feelings, so..." Martti was trembling a little, and Maria placed her hands on his shoulders. "I… I love you, Maria! Like, really really love you! Not as a sibling, but… something… _more_."

Maria began crying, and then wrapped her arms around her little brother, bringing him into her embrace. _I guess he… managed to confess?_ I couldn't help but smile a little. _At least now she won't go after Haru, and she gets to be happy with her little brother._

"Martti..." Maria said quietly as she sobbed. "I love you too, so so much!" She repeated the words that Martti had said to her just a moment before. _And I guess that's her confession sorted out, too._ "I love you just like you love me. Don't ever leave me. Let's just stay together, since we love each other." Suddenly, Maria's tone became a little… _dark_. "We'll be together… forever and ever… Just the two of us..." _That voice gives me the chills… I likened her to a yandere before, but…_ I felt Haru place his hand on my shoulder and he leaned in towards my ear.

" _Sora…_ _Is this… what I think it is?_ " He asked me quietly.

" _What do you think it is?_ " I replied to his question with a question of my own.

" _Well.. I can't understand what they're saying, but… That looked like… a confession? Is that what this i_ _s?_ " I nodded to Haru and turned back to look at the siblings on the opposite side of the table. Maria turned to look at me and smiled.

" _Thank you._ " She said quietly and wiped her tears. " _Thank you so much._ "

* * *

"So, everything went according to your plan, huh?" I asked Sora as we sat in the train, waiting to arrive at our destination.

"I'd say things went better than I had expected." Sora replied and bit into the cookie she was eating. I turned to look outside the window, seeing the scenery pass by us. _Yes… Things did go better than she had expected, I guess._

Yesterday, after Maria and Martti returned home, Sora had had a long talk with Maria about her feelings towards her little brother. As it turned out, Maria actually had a huge crush on her little brother, and Sora gave both of them a push so they could confess their feelings to each other. Later that day, after the electricity had come back, Maria had thanked the both of us for everything, especially Sora, for she was the one who allowed the siblings to take a step into the forbidden unknown. While we hadn't understood anything during the initial confession, Maria had told us what the both of them had said to each other, and even I had to admit that it was heartwarming. We discussed many things about their budding relationship, and gave them advice on how to handle things. I would never have guessed that Sora and I would become counsellors for another incest couple, but I can't say it was a bad experience. Sora was happy that other people had found happiness similar to ours, so I was happy too.

Hideki had also called us back, telling me that he had talked about things with Harri, and that he was happy to provide us a hotel room for the time we would help him, since other than Hideki's place, we had nowhere else to go. And that brings us to our current situation. Earlier today, Hideki had picked us up from Maria's place and driven us to Oulu, where we boarded a train for Rovaniemi. Hideki paid for out tickets, and told us that Harri would be waiting for us at the train station, along with the other Japanese tourists that we would be "working" with alongside Harri. Once we got there, we were supposed to be on the lookout for a tall man with short, light brown hair, glasses, and a goatee.

"Haruuuu…" My sister moaned from the seat next to mine. "How long will this stupid train ride take?" I took out my phone and glanced at the clock on it before responding to Sora.

"It shouldn't take too long. Hideki said that the train ride would take about three hours, but because the trains in Finland were almost always late, we should be expecting at least three and a half hours." I replied to her, and Sora groaned again.

"Stupid trains. Back in Japan, they were never late, and you could get almost anywhere in half an hour."

"Well, that's thanks to the bullet trains. The trains here in Finland are normal trains, so obviously it takes a lot longer."

"Stupid..." Sora muttered and leaned against me. "Wake me up when we're there."

I smiled and ruffled my sister's hair as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I continued stroking her hair as I gazed outside the window. We were heading north, and the storm that had ravaged Hideki's summer cottage was behind us. Soon, Sora's breathing became calm, telling me that she had fallen asleep. _No wonder you're sleepy. After Maria reluctantly allowed us to engage in "nightly activities" per Sora's request, we had gone at it for nearly all night. I slept in the car ride to Oulu, but Sora was awake the whole time._ Just as I had anticipated, it didn't take long for the surroundings to change to that of a city, and before long, the train stopped at the train station in Rovaniemi. _Here we go, then. Time to take another step forwards on this little vacation of ours._ I woke Sora up and we gathered our belongings, then headed outside. Looking around the platform, we tried to find where Harri was.

"Haru, is that him?" Sora asked and tugged my sleeve while pointing at someone in the distance, so I turned around to look at the person she had seen.

"Let's see… light brown hair, glasses, and a goatee. Yeah, checks out. We'd better go make sure." I replied and pulled Sora along with me. As we got closer, the man turned to look at us, and a bright smile rivalling that of Hideki's appeared on his face.

" _Ah, Hello! You two must be Haruka and Sora. I'm Harri, Hideki's friend, nice to meet you._ " The man said in very fluent English and extended a hand.

" _Yes, we are. Nice to meet you, Harri._ " I replied to him and shook his hand, with Sora following shortly afterwards.

" _I know you two have just arrived and all, but we should get going. I'll introduce you to the others, and then we'll head to the hotel where I've prepared a room for you two._ "

I nodded to him and we began to follow him. Harri lead us to the parking area, where I could spot a group of people standing by a large, black car. Even at a distance, I could see that they were tourists, and I some Japanese reached my ears once we got closer.

" _Everyone! Our two new arrivals are here! Say hello to Kasugano Haruka and Kasugano Sora!_ " Harri said and clapped his hands, bringing the attention of the group to himself. As the group spread out a little and turned to look at us, I stopped in my tracks.

"Haru..." Sora said quietly and gripped my sleeve. It seems she had also seen what I had seen.

Amongst the small group of people, two stood out. A dark-haired boy with dead eyes and a curious little _ahoge_ standing proud atop his head looked at us in surprise. Next to him, a girl with long, raven-black hair and a porcelain face adorned with a similar expression stood motionless, as her beautiful blue eyes pierced into us.

 _Well… this is a little awkward, isn't it?_

* * *

 **AN: Took me bloody long enough to update this, eh? Getting sick was not ideal, of course, but it's also the fault of procrastination. I'll have next week off from school, so I'll try to get a grip on myself and write a lot more, but I've also got a bunch of other stuff planned as well. But, you should be able to expect an update to this story some time next week, unless I happen to get sick again. Better not jinx it!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Welcome back, dear readers! Around the time that I'm writing this, this story has broken 1k views! I must say, I never expected this story to become my most popular one, but here we are now! This is a big milestone for me, and I'm very proud of myself for it. A big thank you to all of my readers who have kept up with this story, followed and/or favourited it, and reviewed it!**

 **One final note before we get back to the story, is that this fic has (and will have even more) references to various other Anime that I've watched. Some are minor (Such as the Manga series Sora was reading in the previous chapter), but others are more "impactful" (Such as two characters introduced a while ago, who have now made their return at the end of the previous chapter), so much so that this story could _technically_ be considered a cross-over story, though I wouldn't count it as such myself, since it'll just be some characters from other Anime making an appearance. **

**With those out of the way, let's get back to it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8 – New Acquaintances**

"You… two..." The girl with long, black hair said as she lifted her hand and pointed a finger at us, while her face was overcome with a frown.

" _Oh? Are you already acquainted with the Kasugano Twins, Yukinoshita?_ " Harri asked in English, and the girl let out a sigh and pinched her nose while closing her eyes.

" _We are not. We briefly met each other in Oulu, but that is it._ " The girl, who I assumed was called Yukinoshita, replied to Harri in English.

" _Ah, I see. Well, let's start with our introductions, shall we?_ " Harri said and turned to the two of us. " _You two can start, since you're the new arrivals._ " I nodded to him in response and moved my gaze to to the other tourists here with us.

Apart from the couple we saw in Oulu, there were four others. One of them was a man with shoulder-length black hair and piercing red eyes. He was dressed in a suit and was tapping his foot on the ground, showing his impatience. Next to him, but a little way away from him, stood a man with blue hair and matching eyes, a little taller than I was. He was holding on to the hand of a young girl with auburn hair and amber eyes, which stared at the two of us with curiosity. Holding onto the girl's other hand was a woman with long, purple hair cascading down her sides, and like the man next to her, her eye colour also matched her hair, being coloured a deep purple. On the top of her head, her hair seemed to naturally form a sort of "M" shape, almost giving her the appearance of having cat ears. After letting my gaze go over them for a brief moment, I bowed a little before introducing myself.

"Nice to meet you all. My name is Kasugano Haruka, and this is my twin sister, Sora. Um… We came here on vacation after some… _unfortunate_ things happened back home, and we needed some time together. We live in a place called Okukozome, if any of you have heard of the place. It's… pretty small." I said while glancing between all of the people in front of us.

"Nice to meet you." Sora said and bowed a little as well, taking me by surprise. _Sora? Is she… Trying to give a good first impression?_ "As Haru said, my name is Sora. I'm looking forward to getting to know you all." Sora said with a smile, her gaze lingering on the young girl standing between the two people I presumed were her parents. _Hmm… Neither of them look much like her, though. Maybe adopted?_

"Nice to meet you two!" The man with blue hair said and did a little bow himself. "Guess we'll go next, huh? My name is Okazaki Tomoya, and these two rascals are the two most important girls in my life, my wife and my daughter." He said and ruffled the little girl's hair while giving the woman next to himself a glance with a smile.

"Who are you calling a rascal, huh?" The women responded and shot a glare towards Okazaki. "I apologise for my husband's lack of tact. My name is Fuji… _Ahem_ , Okazaki Kyou. Nice to meet you two as well. And I must also say, I have a twin sister myself, so it feels nice to see another pair of twins while I'm abroad like this." She said with a smile, then lightly nudged the little girl standing between herself and her husband.

" _Kon'nichiwa_." The little girl said quietly and looked up at us. "My name is Ushio, nice to meet you two, Haruka and Sora." _Going straight to first names, huh? Well, she's still young, so I can't blame her._

"Hmph, this is taking too long." The black-haired man said with an irritated tone. "The name is Mikami Teru. I'm a lawyer, and I'm _very_ punctual. This is the first vacation I've had in a while, and I'd like for it to go as planned, and everything to be precisely on time." He said and looked at his watch. "The introductions are taking too long. _I'll be waiting in the car, Harri_." He said in English and sat down in the front seat of the car, which now that I saw it up close, seemed to be an SUV.

"Guess we're the last ones, then." The black-haired girl said and took a deep breath, as if to compose herself. "Nice to meet you two. My name is Yukinoshita Yukino, and you may address me as Yukinoshita-san. The two of us are from Chiba, and we attend the University there. As long as we are… _working_ together with Harri, I will… _turn a blind eye_ to you two, but don't think I've _accepted_ it." She shot a cold glare toward the both of us as she finished. _Well… I guess as long as she keeps the knowledge to herself…_ Harri glanced at the two of us with an intrigued face, then looked back at Yukinoshita, and he seemed to be thinking about something. _He definitely knows something is up. At the very least, he should gather that something happened when we last met that angered Yukinoshita-_ _san_ _._

"I'm Hikigaya Hachiman." Said the boy with the _ahoge_ next to Yukinoshita, briefly meeting my eyes before averting his gaze quickly. "Not much else to say. As Yuki mentioned, we live in Chiba. The three of us came here on vacation, since Yumi requested it." As soon as he finished, the glare Yukinoshita was giving us turned towards him, and he flinched under her gaze. _Hm? Did he… say too much, perhaps?_

"The… _three_ of you?" I asked, and Yukinoshita sighed.

"Yes, the three of us. Since Hiki-blabber-kun here can't keep his mouth shut, I guess it's no harm in telling you. We came here as per the request of a certain Miura Yumiko. I would like for us to not dwell on the matter further, but all you need to know is that she got sick after first day here, and is currently recovering in our hotel room." Yukinoshita explained to us. _Miura Yumiko… So Hikagaya_ _calls this person_ _with an affectionate nickname like_ _'Yumi'?_ _I wonder what their relationship is? I know him and Yukinoshita-_ _san_ _have to be a couple, but…_ _Why would they bring another person with them on their vacation?_

" _Alright, well, if the introductions are now done, should we all get going?_ _I'll drive you all back to the hotel and show Sora and Haruka to their room. Sound good?_ " Harri asked and made his way to the driver's side of the SUV, stopping just before entering to look back at all of us.

" _Mikami-san seems to want to get back to the hotel as quickly as possible,_ _so I think that's a good idea._ " Okazaki-san said, and her husband nodded along with her. "Oh, and you two can call me Kyou if you want to, so things don't get confusing." She said while walking over to us, then patted both of us on the head with a smile on her face. "Sorry, I'm a kindergarten teacher, and while you two aren't necessarily kids, I can't help myself sometimes. Is it okay if I call you two by your first names too?" She asked and pulled her hands away, her gaze flickering between the two of us. Now that she was up close, I realized that she seemed to be around ten centimetres shorter than I was, which still left her taller than Sora was, though.

"Yes, that's absolutely fine by me, Kyou-san." I replied to her with a smile, then turned to look at my sister, who simply sighed.

"...I don't mind it. It will be nice to get along with at least _someone_ while we're here." Sora said and smirked as she shot a glance towards Yukinoshita.

"Oi, getting friendly with a younger guy, are we? Maybe I should do the same with the other twin..." Okazaki said as he walked up to his wife and leaned down a little to look at Sora, who grabbed onto my arm and glared at him together with Kyou. "Hah! That's a good reaction, Sora-chan! Don't worry, I'm just joking. You can call me Tomoya, but Okazaki is fine too, as I don't really mind." He then leaned closer to me to whisper into my ear. " _When you're addressing my wife, make sure to use the 'chan'-honorific. It makes her feel young and cute._ " He said to me with a wink, while Kyou looked at the two of us with a confused expression. "Let's go! We don't want to anger Mikami-san any more."

"Your husband is right, _Kyou-chan_. I can't wait to see our hotel room." I said and followed after Tomoya, and could see a bright blush appearing on Kyou's face.

"W-why w-would you u-use that h-honorific..." Kyou's eyes widened, and her head snapped in the direction of her husband. "Tomoya!"

With a sigh from Yukinoshita and a chuckle from Harri, we entered the backseat of the car. Tomoya helped the two of us stow our luggage in the trunk of the car, and we sat down next to him and his wife at the very back. The SUV had three rows of seats, including the front row with the driver, with Hikigaya and Yukinoshita sitting in the middle row. Ushio had a safety seat on the far left by the door, with Kyou sitting next to her and Tomoya in the middle of the back seat. Since Sora wanted to sit by the window, I was sat between her and Tomoya, with Hikigaya sitting in the seat right in front of me, his _ahoge_ peeking from over the top of the seat. Yukinoshita was sitting by the window in front of Sora, and Mikami was sat at the very front, next to Harri. After checking everyone's seatbelts, we were off.

"Hey, Haruka." Tomoya suddenly said to me as we stopped at a junction to wait for the traffic lights. "You two are in… High School, right?" He asked as he turned to face me.

"Sora and I? Yeah, we are. We go to the High School in Okukozome, although… I'm not sure how we'll go about our studies after this, since we might be on vacation for longer than the summer holiday lasts for back home." I replied to him and glanced at my sister, who was gazing out of the window. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I'm just curious, is all. You know, Kyou and I first met during our High School years, though we only recently got married." Tomoya said with a slightly pained expression. _Are there some…_ bad _memories linked to those days?_

"If you don't mind me being a little curious in return, how old are the two of you, exactly?"

"We'll both be turning 26 later this year. Unless I've forgotten Kyou's birthday… Wait, don't tell me you're already 26?" Tomoya replied and then turned to face his wife, his tone sounding legitimately concerned. _Don't tell me he actually forgot his wife's birthday…_

"Next month, Tomoya. You should do well to remember that." Kyou said and glared at her husband while crossing her arms.

"Yes! I apologize, Kyou- _sama_!" Tomoya said and saluted, then turned back to face me. "I guess that makes our age difference… nearly ten years? Somewhere along those lines, at least. When is your birthday? Has it already passed, or is it later in the year?"

"Sora's and mine birthday is on the fifth of February, so it's already passed." At this point, the light turned green and we continued our journey to our hotel, passing by what looked like a market square on our left side.

"Ah, I see. February, huh?" Tomoya smiled and turned his gaze to look at Ushio, who was looking out of the window on the other side. "Ushio was born in February, too. It's been… five years, now." As he finished, the smile disappeared from his face and his gaze seemed to be fixated on something in the distance. As Kyou noticed this, she placed a hand on his shoulder and gently stroked it.

"Um… I'm… sorry if I..." I wanted to apologise to him, since it looked like I brought back some bad memories. _Did… something happen when Ushio was born?_

"No, you don't have to be. You don't know, after all." Tomoya said and placed his hand atop his wife's, then looked at me with a smile. "Since we're going to be buddies on this trip, I might as well tell you the whole story. You… must have noticed that Ushio looks quite… _different_ from both me and my wife, right?"

"Yes, I did. I was going to ask about that, but… You don't have to tell me if it makes you… _uncomfortable_."

"It's fine. Let's see… I won't tell you everything, since it would take more time than we have for this car ride, and I doubt I could recall all of it without shedding a few manly tears." Tomoya said with a chuckle, while Kyou just sighed and turned her attention back to Ushio. "It all started back in High School. Kyou wasn't the only pretty girl I got to know there. Tomoyo, Kotomi, Ryou, and… Nagisa. Furukawa Nagisa. She was a weak and frail girl, who had to often repeat years because of sickness. She was also more… _petite_ than her peers, despite being older than them. I became good friends with her, and before I knew it… I had fallen in love. We started dating during High School, and after many trials and errors, we got married after graduation. My life with Nagisa was everything I could have asked for, and eventually… Well, she got pregnant." Tomoya paused for a moment and glanced towards Ushio. _I… Think I can see where this is going._ "Unfortunately… Due to Nagisa's weak physical health… The doctors predicted that her pregnancy might have some… _complications_. In the end, the worst happened on that faithful February day five years ago." Tomoya was visibly shaking and Kyou took his hand into her own. It didn't look like Tomoya wanted to continue the story. Either that, or he couldn't say the words out loud, so I took the initiative.

"Nagisa… Your late wife, she..." I swallowed and looked towards Kyou, who made a slight nod in my direction. "She… died giving birth to Ushio, right?" Tomoya didn't move in the slightest for a few moments, then took a deep breath to compose himself.

"Yes. I was… devastated, to say the least. I fell into depression and left Ushio under the care of the Furukawas, her grandparents. I was a horrible father, and only recently, once I realized that, did I try to mend our relationship." Tomoya wiped the corner of his eye and turned to look at Kyou again. "Still, Nagisa's death took a real toll on me, and it wasn't until Kyou came into my life again that I was able to recover fully. As it turns out, Kyou was actually a teacher in the kindergarten that Ushio went to. We got reacquainted and… Well, one thing led to another and… here we are now. Kyou has helped me immensely with recovering, and as you can see, I even managed to fall in love again." The smile returned to his face as he held his wife's hand, and I noticed that Sora had turned to face us as well.

"Um… Okazaki-san?" Sora said and peeked at the married couple, who both turned their heads to face her. "You said that your… late wife died at… childbirth because… she was physically weak, didn't you?" Sora asked, sounding quite concerned. _Oh, I see why she's asking this. She's… worried about herself. Now that I think about it… It is making me a little worried as well._

"Well… yes. I'm sure it came to many factors, but… her frailty was definitely one of the top contributors." Tomoya said while Harri pulled over by a large building. "Ah, looks like we're here. I'll help you two with your luggage again, okay? We can talk some more after that."

Due to Ushio sitting in the safety seat, we all had to exit out of the door on the right side one at a time. As soon as we were outside, I saw Mikami hurriedly making his way inside the building. _He's on vacation, so I wonder why he's in such a hurry?_

" _Alright, here we are! This is Scandic Hotel Pohjanhovi. The Finnish name translates to something akin to 'Court of the North'. My opinion may be biased, but I can safely say that it's one of the best hotels around here. I can give you two a full tour later on, but for now, I'll show you to your room._ " Harri explained to us as we began to unload our luggage.

" _I can help Haruka with their luggage. We were in the middle of a conversation anyway._ " Tomoya said to Harri in English as he took the heaviest suitcases out of the trunk of the car. We didn't have that much in the form of luggage, but I appreciated his help.

" _We'll be in our room, Harri._ " Yukinoshita said as she and Hikigaya stepped out of the car. " _I believe you said that you would have all of us meet at the restaurant at 4 pm, correct?_ " She then asked.

" _Yes. We'll use it as an opportunity to properly welcome Haruka and Sora, and I'll go over everything with them, then we'll discuss things together. I'll go to all of your rooms a little before that, so be ready._ " Yukinoshita nodded to Harri and briefly glanced in our direction, her gaze lingering on Sora for a few moments before entering the hotel with Hikigaya in tow. " _You got everything? Let's go, then._ " Harri said and began to make his way towards the entrance as well, with all of us right behind him.

I could tell just from the reception that this hotel could be considered "fancy". Then again, I hadn't been to many hotels in my life, so there wasn't a lot to compare it to. Harri lead us to the third floor, all the way down one of the corridors. He told us that he was allowed to make use of the hotel's rooms for his "project", as long as the rooms were out of the way, so that all the rooms with better access to everything were left for the paying customers. Apparently, though, while Yukinoshita's and her companions' room was down the same corridor as everyone else's, they had actually paid for theirs, and had simply chosen one of the more "out of the way" rooms due to personal preference. While Tomoya carried our luggage to our room, his wife and daughter went into their own room, which was just opposite to ours.

" _Here we are._ " Harri said as he fished a key out of his pocket and opened the door. " _The room might be a little small, but it is made to accommodate two people. However, given your and Hideki's wish, this room has one large bed instead of the usual two._ " He explained as we entered the room.

"The bed is actually from our room, since we didn't need two large beds for just the three of us. I guess you two like snuggling then, huh? I'm an only child, so I don't know much about this stuff, but I could ask Kyou about it, since she's also a twin." Tomoya said as he set down our luggage and examined the room.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. We're… quite close. That's one of the reasons as to why we went on this vacation." I said and rubbed the back of my neck, while Sora immediately jumped onto the double bed and lied down.

" _Well, I think I'll leave you two here for now._ " Harri said and handed me the key. " _I'll_ _give you two another copy of the key later today. Just like Yukinoshita said, we'll all be meeting down at the restaurant at around 4 pm today._ _I'll meet you all around that time, alright?_ " Harri then said, and I nodded to him. With a wave of his hand, Harri left the three of us alone in mine and Sora's room.

"You know…" Tomoya started and sat down in one of the chairs. "You said before that you went on this vacation due some unfortunate things happening, and I'm a little curious. I mean, you heard about my past a little bit, so you can let me know a little about yours, eh?"

"Well..." I turned to look at Sora, who rose up to a sitting position and sighed, then motioned with her hand for me to come closer to her.

" _Are you planning on telling him everything?_ " Sora whispered into my ear while glancing at Tomoya.

" _Obviously not. I think… It's best that only Yukinoshita-_ _san_ _and Hikigaya know about us. They don't seem like they'll spill the beans, so we should be able to keep it a secret._ " I took hold of Sora's hand and smiled at her. " _I know our promise, but… This will be a necessary sacrifice while we're here, okay?_ " Sora sighed again but nodded, then smiled a little.

"If… you two don't want to tell me everything, that's fine too. I… understand that some things are better left unsaid. And if something truly unfortunate did happen..." Tomoya said and scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"No, we'll tell you. As you said, it's only fair that you know a little about our past, too." I said and turned to face Tomoya, whose face lit up a little. "There's been a lot of… tragedy and drama in our life, to put it simply. We're fraternal twins, but Sora… She's… always been weak. Kind of how you described your late wife, Furukawa Nagisa." Tomoya's eyes widened a little in surprise, and his gaze shifted towards my sister.

"So _that's_ why you..." He said quietly, the shook his head. "Sorry. Please, continue."

"Right. So, because of her physical weakness, she used to spend extended amounts of time in hospital when we were young. That resulted in… well… I guess one way to put it, is that because we were often separated, we didn't… _bond_ in the same way that normal twins do. Eventually, when Sora had recovered enough to live at home, we… Well, we made a… promise that we would always stay together, no matter what, to make up for the time we lost when we were young." I explained to Tomoya and paused for a bit, leaving out the fact that for this reason, Sora and I had developed feelings towards each other. _Although… I'm not lying when I say our bond isn't the same as the bond other twins have._

"Oh, I see… Yeah, that makes sense, then. This happened many years ago, though. Is there anything more recent?"

"Well, yes, there is. After our… 'reunion', so to speak, we spent a lot of time together. We lived in a large city together with our parents, but we often visited our grandparents, who lived in Okukozome. We spent many summers there, and we have lots of fond memories of that place. And some… _less_ fond ones as well, but… We shouldn't dwell on those. Anyway, or grandparents were old, and a few years ago they passed away. After that, we didn't get to visit Okukozome in many years, until recently." I paused again and glanced at Sora, but despite knowing where the story was going next, she didn't seem to show any signs of being uncomfortable. "Recently, our… our parents died in an accident. It was… very sudden, and we were devastated. After this, the rest of the family we had left tried to decide what to do with the two of us. They were willing to take us under their wing, but… at the cost of us being separated. We didn't want that, so we took matters into our own hands. We sold the house we lived in, and moved into our grandparents' old house in Okukozome." I turned towards Sora again, but her face had remained the same. _Has she… gotten over it? Or is she just trying to keep up a strong front?_

"That's… I'm sorry for you two. That must have been hard for the both of you. And… you said this happened recently? I'm really sorry for you two." Tomoya said and looked away from us, his gaze hitting the floor.

"It's... Okay." Sora spoke up from next to me. "We've gotten over it. And… we've got each other, we don't need anyone else. Not even those who called themselves our 'family', going so far as to suggest separating us..." Sora trailed off a little towards the end, and I could see she was clenching her fists.

"Yeah, that does seem like it would be a terrible thing to do to you two… Is… that why you're here now, or is there another reason as to why you came on this vacation?"

"Well, yes. Not too long ago I got a call from our uncle. He and our aunt were willing to take us in, or rather, they were _going to_ take us in, whether we wanted to or not, but… Again, we would have been separated. We… didn't want that, so I scrounged up what little money we had left and booked some tickets for a flight to Helsinki. We didn't just choose Finland randomly, though. Minaduki Hideki, an artisan who knew our parents lives here. I contacted him, and he was more than happy to take us in while we're here." I explained to Tomoya, who nodded at me towards the end.

"Yes… and Minaduki-san is a friend of Harri's, so that's how you two are here now. I see. What are your plans after you return to Japan?" Tomoya asked us.

"We… haven't thought about that much yet. The only place where we _can_ go back to is Okukozome, but… We don't have much money left. We'd have to see about getting back into school, and I might have to start a part-time job somewhere. Our future is… still very uncertain after this. The only thing we know, is that… We… want to stay together, since we only really have each other..." I was careful with everything I said, so I didn't end up saying too much to him. _Tomoya-_ _san_ _is probably the last person here I want to find out about our relationship._

"Hmmm..." Tomoya placed a hand on his chin and studied to the two of us for a few moments before speaking again. "Well… I have been told in the past that I have this odd _need_ to help others in peril… Heh, it's the reason I became acquainted with Nagisa in the first place… Erm, sorry. But, I'm willing to help you two out. While you're here, and after we're all back in Japan." He then said with a smile.

"Huh? Really?" _I felt like he was a nice guy, but… I honestly did not expect this._

"Yep, really. For now, let's exchange phone numbers. That way, even if we won't be able to see each other as much after the vacation is over, we can still talk, and I can give you advice on things." Tomoya said and pulled out his phone, and we exchanged our contact information. "Well, thanks for telling me about your past. We're going to be living here together, so knowing about one another is important, eh?" He then said and made his way to the door. "If you need anything, just give our door a knock!"

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind!" I said and waved my hand as Tomoya exited our room, the door closing behind him with a soft 'clack'. I turned to face Sora, who let herself fall backwards onto the bed. "He seemed nice and helpful. Almost like a… big brother or a father figure. Although, I guess with Ushio, he is quite literally a father." I said and laid down next to her, moving my hand to caress her hair.

"Yeah… His wife seemed nice too." Sora said and sighed a little. "You know… Given that Yukinoshita-san knows about us and is disgusted, Hikigaya-san doesn't seem like the type to want to talk with others, and Mikami-san felt like he would rather tell us to go die than have a pleasant conversation… I might… actually try to… make friends with the Okazakis..." I turned sideways to face my sister, who was biting her lip while her gaze shifted around the room, not focusing on anything.

"I think that's wonderful, Sora." I said with a smile, and Sora turned to look at me as well. "I've… always worried about you, since you've always been so… _unsociable_. If we can get on good terms with them… Tomoya-san said he'd be willing to help and support us, and I'm sure Kyou-san is more than willing to do the same. And if we become really close with them, then maybe… we could… tell them..." Sora's eyes widened a little as she finished my sentence.

"...The true nature of our relationship… Yes… You're right. At that point… they might even… _accept_ it." Sora said and smiled at me, then moved closer and gave me a quick kiss before sitting up. "I'll take Okazaki-san's offer and go talk with them."

"Do you want to take the key? I don't think I'll be leaving the room, but you might need it in case I do." I said as I sat up on the bed as well, while Sora stood up and took a few steps towards the door.

"I should be fine. If you do leave and don't come back before I'm done, I'm sure the Okazakis will allow me to take advantage of their hospitality." Sora said and walked up to the door to open it, only to stop in her tracks as she did so. I peeked towards the door and saw a figure standing in the doorway.

"Oh, uhh… Yo." I recognised the voice as Hikigaya and as I stood up I saw that he had his right hand up, as if he had been about to knock on our door.

"What." Sora said with an annoyed tone as I walked up behind her.

"I… well… I just wanted to… talk for a bit." Hikigaya said and rubbed the back of his neck while averting his gaze.

"Do you need the both of us for it? I wanted to go and get closer with the Okazakis, so if you don't mind..." Sora said and shot a glare at Hikigaya, who flinched a little and moved out of the way to allow my sister to go knock on the door opposite to ours. "Haru." She said and turned around briefly as she waited for someone to open the door for her. "Do be nice to our guest." She said with a smirk as Kyou let her in. _What is she up to now?_

"Um… Would you… like to come in? You said you… wanted to talk?" I said and stepped back, inviting Hikigaya into our room, who nodded to me and entered with a quiet 'Pardon my intrusion'. "I don't have anything to give you, but… take a seat." I said and gestured towards the seat Tomoya had sat in earlier. Hikigaya sat down and glanced around the room, his eyes locking onto the double bed. "So..." I said as I glanced at him, which seemingly brought him out of his thoughts.

"Right." Hikigaya said and briefly looked towards me. "The double bed… Are you… Are you and your sister… really in that kind of… relationship?" I could see that it was awkward for him to talk about this, and I didn't really blame him. _Then again… They've only seen us kiss… I could try to talk us out of this situation by making it seem like a misunderstanding._

"I… I think you may have misunderstood something..." Hikigaya raised an eyebrow as he shifted his gaze so he was actually looking _at_ me. "You and Yukinoshita-san… Well, Yukinoshita-san especially seemed to have gotten the idea that… Sora and I… Are in an incestuous relationship. But… Why?" I hoped I was convincing enough.

"Well… Back in Oulu… You two… _kissed_. And your sister… She was awfully aggressive when Yuki confronted you two..."

"I don't _deny_ the kiss, but… Sora is… very defensive when it comes to me and my… _female acquaintances_. Maybe at the time she thought that Yukinoshita-san might have… _tried something_ with me, and that's why she was aggressive towards her. Sora and I… we've only got each other, and… she relies on me a lot. That's why she… doesn't want me to associate myself with other girls, if that makes sense." Similar to what I had told Tomoya, not everything I said was a lie. In fact, a lot of the things I said were the truth. Hikigaya looked to be deep in thought for a few seconds before he replied to me.

"...Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But… That doesn't still explain the kiss."

"Oh, that? Well..." I rubbed the back of my neck and averted my gaze. _I… Can't really think of anything that will explain it…_

"Although..." Hikigaya interrupted my thought process and awkwardly scratched his cheek as he glanced towards me. "Even if… You two have that kind of relationship… I… Don't really care. I'm not one to dabble in other people's business, and given my… own… current… _relationship…_ Well, never mind. Yuki doesn't seem too happy about it, though, and I'm… _afraid_ of opposing her, so..." _Is he… for real?_

"Are you… serious? You… don't care if Sora and I are… like that?" I took a step closer to Hikigaya, and he seemed surprised by it.

"Uh, yeah. The world is rotten to the core anyways, why should I care about something as trivial as relationships between two people?" Hikigaya said, sounding quite proud with his statement. "For all I care, someone out there could be happily dating a minor, or maybe multiple people at once, and it wouldn't affect my life at all." Hikigaya leaned on the back of the seat and placed his hands behind his head to lean back further. "Sure, it might be… illegal and such, but… Rotten world, rotten rules, eh? As I said, my current… er… _relationship_ isn't… well, I… Wouldn't like to talk about it, but… Let's just say… I'm _partly_ on your side."

"That's… good enough for me. Thanks, Hikigaya." I said and sat down on the bed, letting out a small sigh of relief. _Hikigaya seems like a chill guy. I'm glad that he understands._

"So… Are you like… dating… your sister, then..?" Hikigaya asked awkwardly as he turned to face me in the chair.

"Oh, well, yeah, I am. It's… a long story as to how we ended up this way, but… There's been a lot of tragedy in our life, and… Right now, we only have each other. You said you didn't really care, but… Do you… find it weird in any way?"

"Well… I guess it is kinda weird. Then again, there's plenty of Light Novels that explore the idea of a romantic relationship between siblings. There's OreImo, OniAi, and a bunch of others, so I guess… I'm _used_ to it? I don't know. I'm not… disgusted by the idea, at the very least. I mean, I can somewhat understand the protagonists in those series, given that I have a cute _imouto_ myself." Hikigaya explained to me. _I guess he likes reading a lot, then._ _And a cute imouto? I kind of want to know more._

"Oh? Do you now? What's she like?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound too intrusive, since Hikigaya seemed like the kind of person who cared about his personal life.

"What is she like? Hmm… I would say 'the best imouto in the entire world', but I think every brother would say that about their little sister… Well, as I already said, Komachi's really cute." _Komachi? I guess that's his sister's name._ "So cute, in fact, that I have to make sure to keep all the boys her age away from her. Yuki and Yumi call me a _siscon_ , but it's totally normal behaviour for an older brother to protect their sister from boys! They're all evil! Especially that one _insect_ who keeps acting friendly around Komachi… Heh, good thing his grades weren't good enough to get into Soubu. Take that, Kawa-something's brother!" I chuckled a little as Hikigaya got all pumped up talking about his sister, and he looked away in embarrassment. _Oh, yeah, he mentioned this 'Yumi' again._

"Do you… mind if I ask you about something, Hikigaya?" I asked once I had ceased my laughter.

"Sure." Hikigaya replied and turned to face me again.

"Twice now you've mentioned someone called 'Yumi'. Yukinoshita said that you came here with another person, someone called Miura Yumiko. If you don't mind… could you… elaborate on that? Are they a friend of yours, or Yukinoshita-san's? I was just thinking that you must be close, since you've got a nickname for her and everything." Hikigaya visibly flinched in his seat and began to frantically steal glances at the door.

"I… Well… You could… call her that, I guess. We… were in the same class in our second and third years of High School. Yumi and I, that is. It's… kind of… embarrassing to admit, but… I… _hooked up_ with Yuki in my second year, and… got… _closer_ with Yumi around the same time. The girls… Didn't really get along at first, but… I guess their… _relationship_ with me allowed them to also… get closer. Now, the three of us go to Chiba University together, and Yumi wanted to go on a vacation this summer… and here we are." Hikigaya explained to me, sounding very nervous. His body was tense the whole time, and he kept glancing at the door. _He is acting very… odd. I also get the feeling he might not be telling me everything…_

"Hikigaya..." He jumped a little as I said his name and turned to look at me again. "Is there… A reason as to why you're acting so… Afraid?" I asked and raised an eyebrow at him.

"A-afraid? Well… I guess you could say that." Hikigaya swallowed and leaned in closer to me, although given the distance between us, it didn't really affect anything. "Those two girls… They're… _scary_." He said quietly and glanced at the door again. "When I accidentally let out that we came here with Yumi earlier… Yuki was quite mad. I don't think they want me… telling people about the three of us to others. Or... let me go anywhere… _unsupervised_." I was left… _confused_ by what Hikigaya had said to me. _It sounds almost like… These two girls are…_ controlling _him or something?_

"That sounds… interesting, to say the least. I mean… it makes Yukinoshita-san sound like a controlling and jealous girlfriend, but… Miura-san as well? Are you… Okay being close with… people like that? I don't mean to disrespect, of course."

"Well… Call me a masochist, but… I'm happy with the way things are. The can be… _scary_ at times, and I do sometimes have second thoughts, but… I still love both of them." Hikigaya said and smiled. _'Both of them'? What does he..?_ As if realizing what he had said, Hikigaya's eyes widened. "O-of course I-I mean that..." Before he could finish his sentence, someone knocked at the door.

"Ah, it might be Sora. Hold on. Coming!" I said and stood up from the bed and made my way over to the door.

"Ah, wait!" I briefly glanced at Hikigaya when I opened the door, and I saw all the colour disappear from his face as he froze in place. I turned around to look at the person I had just opened the door to, and for a brief moment, I thought I was seeing things. _Maria? No, wait, it can't be her. Not with those eyes._

In front of me stood a young woman, probably not much older than I was, with blonde hair that reached past her shoulders, being slightly curled at the ends. Her piercing, green eyes bore into me with a glare, not unlike the kind Yukinoshita had given us. But in contrast to Yukinoshita's cold, blizzard-like glare, hers was fiery, and I felt like it burned right through me. Her face was a little flushed, and she was wearing a scarf, along with a woolly shirt, but as I glanced down, I couldn't see any shoes, indicating that she hadn't come from outside, despite her getup. _She looks Japanese, though with that hair and those eyes, she could_ _be easily mistaken for_ _a westerner._

"Uhh… Hello? Can I… help you?" I asked, feeling weak under her gaze.

"Uhh, like, yeah. Why else would I be here?" The girl replied and huffed. "You're the new guy here, right? Kasugano-kun?" I nodded at her, and a smile seemingly appeared on her face. "Okay, like, I kinda need help, you know? Have you seen Hikio around? He can be easily missed, but, like, he's easily recognisable. Black hair, eyes of a dead fish, _ahoge_ on the top of his head?" _Oh, she means Hikigaya? Could this be… Miura Yumiko?_

"Are you… Miura Yumiko-san?" I asked and glanced behind me. Hikigaya was still frozen in place, his face pale.

"Well, duh, yeah I am. Who else would I be? Not like there's many Japanese girls here anyway. At least not many as beautiful as me. But, like, anyway. Have you seen him or have you not? _Tell me_." Her last comment sounded more like an order than a question.

"If by 'Hikio' you mean Hikigaya, then yes, he's here with me. We… talked about some things while my sister is next door with the Okazakis." I moved out of the way and gestured towards Hikigaya, who finally seemed to be able to move once he heard me say his name.

"Oh, there you are, Hikio!" Miura said and walked past me into the room. "We were like, getting worried, you know?" Miura placed a hand on Hikigaya's shoulder and squeezed it. " _We don't want you running off like that again, okay? You know I'm sick and need attention._ " She then said in a voice that sent shivers down my spine. Before either of us could say anything else, Miura was already dragging Hikigaya away from the room. She stopped in the doorway and turned to look at me. "Hey, like, thanks for watching him, but..." Miura leaned closer, and her eyes seemed to become… _dull_ , as she whispered to me in a voice that caused another shiver to go down my spine. " _We don't like_ _it_ _when Hikio is kept away from us, alright? Remember that, and_ _w_ _e'll get along just fine._ " After leaving me speechless and dumbfounded, she dragged Hikigaya with her back down the hallway, entering one of the rooms a little further down.

 _What… What did I just witness?_

* * *

"Haru." I said and turned back to look at my brother and Hikigaya. "Do be nice to our guest." I then said and smirked before entering the room with Okazaki Kyou. _I hope Hikigaya-san will be alright with my brother. I could see it in his eyes when he mentioned this 'Yumi'. He's_ afraid _of Yukinoshita-san._

"Ah, Sora-chan! Is there something you need from us already?" Okazaki said when he saw me enter. He was playing with Ushio, who had some kind of toy robot in her hands

"Not that I _need_ something, just… I want to talk with you two. Like… Haru said that I can be… _unsociable_ , and I know I can be rude sometimes, but… You two seemed like… nice people..." _This is harder than I thought… How does Haru manage to socialize with so many different people?_

"Heh, physically the same, but mentally polar opposites. Reminds me of another set of twins I know." Okazaki said and glanced at his wife, who sent him a small glare in return, before turning back to face me.

"We get it, Sora. I was actually wanting to talk with you two as well, so this fits nicely. Come, have a seat." Kyou said and moved one the chairs so it was facing the bed, and Kyou sat down on the bed herself.

" _Arigatou_." I said and sat down, then glanced around the room.

The room was very similar in design to ours, but with a few key differences. The room was slightly larger, most likely made to accommodate a family like the Okazakis. There were only two beds, though. _Okazaki-san did say that_ _the bed in our room came from here._

"So, is there anything specific you wanted to talk about?" Kyou asked as she leaned forwards, resting her hands on her legs.

"Well… I wanted to ask you something, Okazaki-san..."

"Yes?" Both of them said at the same time, cutting me off. _Oh, right._

"Um… _Tomoya-san_ , I mean. I… tried to ask you about it before in the car. Your… wife and how she… _died_ when… giving birth." I said and fidgeted in my seat.

"Oh, yeah, your brother mentioned that like Nagisa, you also have a… _weak physique_ , right?" Tomoya asked and I nodded, while Kyou gasped.

"You do? That's very unfortunate, Sora." Kyou said and reached out with her hand, placing it on top of my own on my lap. _Why is she… touching me so casually?_ My 'shock' must been evident on my face, as Kyou pulled her hand back and did a little bow. "Oh, sorry! I can't help it, as I take care of children for a living." She apologised.

"I-it's fine, I just didn't expect it. It's not… _unwelcome_." I said and looked away, slightly embarrassed, and Kyou smiled at me.

"Oh, that's good. Tomoya told me that your brother told him about the two of you, but I would like to know as well. If you're willing to tell me, that is."

"I don't mind. I won't tell as long of a story as Haru did but… Well, as Tomoya-san said, I'm… physically weak. When I was little, I used to spend a lot of time at the hospital, away from Haru. When I was eventually discharged and could live at home, Haru and I promised that we would stay together after that. In that way, our… _bond_ as twins is a little… _different_ from others, since we weren't there for each other when we were young." I inwardly smirked to myself. _If only they knew what I was talking about. Wait, no. I have to stop thinking like this. Need to be nice with them._ "For a while, that worked out great. We spent a lot of time together, and took many trips to Okukozome, where our grandparents lived. Until they died, that is. After that, we didn't go there for many years. Over the years that we've been together, I've… become _reliant_ on Haru. And so, when our parents died not too long ago..." I glanced at Kyou, who was listening to my story intently, and her eyes widened a little when I mentioned the fate of our parents. "...Against the wishes of our remaining family, I wanted to stay with him. They wanted to separate us, but we didn't allow that. Haru sold our house, and we moved to Okukozome. After our uncle found out that we were running low on money, they were going to separate us again. Haru and I… _argued_ , and some more drama happened, but… We made up and 'renewed' our promise we made years ago, and here we are now." I noticed that while Tomoya had mostly been playing with Ushio the whole time, once I mentioned that Haru and I had argued, he turned to look at me.

"That's… quite a lot of tragedy in such a short time… I had no idea you two had gone through all that..." Kyou took my hand again and squeezed it, while looking into my eyes with a sad expression. _This… This feels nice…_

"Kyou-san..." I said quietly and smiled at her.

"Sora-chan, you… said that the two of you _argued_ before you decided to travel here. What… did you two argue about, though?" Tomoya asked me while Ushio played with the toy robot.

"Well… That's… _Personal_. But… we might tell you _eventually_." I said and averted my gaze. _Just like Haru said. No need to tell them everything yet. When the time comes, we'll tell them the truth._

"Alright, that's understandable. So, you wanted to ask about… Nagisa, right?"

"Yes. You said that like me, she was weak physically, and that was one of the reasons as to why she… died when giving birth. And I'm… well..." I had been confident before, but I couldn't seem to get the words out any more.

"...You're concerned for yourself regarding the matter, since you're also physically weak, right?" Kyou asked with a gentle tone, and I slowly nodded to her. "So… You want… a child? Is… that what you're saying?" I nodded again and turned away, feeling my cheeks heating up.

"I've… talked about it with Haru, and… we could… take care of the child together. Does that… sound weird?" I was threading the needle right now, and I had to choose my words carefully.

"If you're worried about your own health… You could always adopt a child, you know?" Tomoya commented, and Kyou turned back to glare at her.

"Seriously, you always know how to throw thoughtless comments, don't you?" Kyou said and sighed, then turned to me with a smile. "I'm sure that Sora wants to have a real child of her own, and go through the full experience of motherhood." Kyou's smile wavered a little, and she lowered one of her hands down to her stomach. " _I know I certainly do._ " She then whispered, so only I heard it. _Right… Ushio isn't actually her daughter._ I leaned past Kyou and looked at Tomoya, then smirked at him.

"Oh, right, sorry. But… if that's the case… Who would be the… _actual_ father?" I flinched a little at Tomoya's question. _Obviously I can't tell them the truth…_

"That's not what Sora came here to discuss, right?" Kyou said to her husband, and I could hear a bit of venom in her voice. "And just when I scolded you about this… I swear, you haven't changed at all from your High School days, Tomoya..." Kyou sighed and turned back to face me again. "You're concerned about your own health in that situation, so you came to us for advice. But I don't think you should worry too much. It's been five years since then, and medicine has advanced a lot in that time. And if I remember correctly, Nagisa gave birth at home, which increases the risk to both the mother and the child. I'm sure that nowadays, if you were to give birth at a hospital, both you and the child would be completely safe." Kyou explained to me in a reassuring tone. _I'm glad she diverted his question away. I don't think I could have found a way to answer it._

"You know… a surprising amount about this stuff, despite being a kindergarten teacher." I said, and Kyou let out a little giggle.

"My twin sister, Ryou, is a nurse, so that's why I know quite a bit about healthcare myself. Also… I've done some… research on… pregnancy and… stuff." Kyou said awkwardly while glancing at his husband, who was now back to playing with Ushio. _Didn't seem like he got the hint._ I thought and placed a hand on Kyou's shoulder.

" _Best of luck to you, Kyou-san._ " I whispered with a smile, which turned into a smirk as a devious thought made its way into my mind. "You know, Tomoya-san… If you don't mind, Haru and I could… _look after_ Ushio this evening. I mean, you two must have been with her the entire time, and maybe you could use some time to yourselves..?" Kyou's face became bright red as I finished, as she understood what I was insinuating, while Tomoya just looked at me with a thoughtful look on his face.

"S-Sora!" Kyou shouted, and Tomoya gave her a questioning look.

"Why not? If you spend some time with her now, I doubt Ushio would mind it." Tomoya said with a smile.

"T-Tomoya!" Kyou shouted again and quickly turned to face her husband.

"Kyou? What's wrong? Your face is all red. Do you have a fever?" Tomoya glanced at me and a grin appeared on his face. "Or did Sora say something to you?"

"N-no! I-I mean..." Kyou turned back to me, but didn't look me in the eyes. "You don't play fair, Sora..." I let out a little giggle at the older woman's agony, but I could see a small smile on her face.

Tomoya began to laugh as well, but stopped once Kyou sent him a murderous glare. Ushio simply looked at us curiously, her gaze shifting between each of us, until she decided that her robot was more worthy of her time than the three grown-ups (or nearly grown-up, in my case, though I would personally consider myself that already) talking about something she didn't understand. Strangely, being with the three of them felt… _homely_ , almost like what things were like back when Haru and I still lived with our parents. _I hope Haru and I can have happiness like they do, one day._ I smiled and shifted my gaze towards Kyou, who was glaring at her husband while he was frantically apologizing to her. _And I hope they can be a part of that future, somehow._ My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Sora, could you get it? I need to _discipline_ my husband a little." Kyou said as she brought her foot down onto Tomoya's back, and as I quickly glanced at him when I stood up, he seemingly had a look of _pleasure_ on his face.

" _Hai Hai_. It might be Haru, if he's finished with Hikigaya-san already." I replied ad walked over to the door.

As I opened the door, I felt my face instantly shifting into a scowl, as I thought the girl standing in front of me was Maria. _What the hell is she doing… Wait, that's not Maria. This girl is clearly Japanese._ Her hair was blonde, like Maria's, but it must have been dyed. Her eyes were green, like emeralds, and she returned my scowl with one of her own. Her cheeks were tinted red, and she had a scarf wrapped around her neck, covering up to her chin. She stood taller than me, and I felt like she wasn't just physically looking down on me, but psychologically as well.

"What's up with that face?" The girl asked me in an irritated tone. "And, like who even are you? I haven't seen you here before. Where are the Okazakis?" She asked and peeked past me into the room, but I doubt she could see anything other than Tomoya's backside as he was kneeling down in front of Kyou.

"First question: I thought you were someone else for a second. Second question: Kasugano Sora, nice to meet you. First statement: We've just arrived here, so I haven't seen you either. And last question: The Okazakis are having a moment of… _family bonding_." I didn't like the tone of her voice, or her attitude, so I replied to her in a similar manner. "Do you need something from them?"

"Kasugano-san, huh?" The girl said and looked me up and down. "Since you've just arrived… Yeah, I need to like, ask them something. Oh, and the name is Miura Yumiko, by the way. Yumiko to friends, but Miura to you." I rolled my eyes at her, keeping my thoughts to myself, then turned around and walked back to Kyou and Tomoya. "Someone called Miura Yumiko is here to ask you something." I said to the two of them, and Kyou stopped stepping on Tomoya.

"Oh, Miura-san?" Kyou stood up and walked to the door. "Are you getting better?"

"Oh, a little bit, yeah. But, the reason I'm here is because I'm looking for Hikio. Have you like, seen him?" Miura asked from Kyou, with a much more pleasant tone than what she took when speaking with me. _Oh, I see how it is, Miura-san._

"Hikio..? Oh, you mean Yukinoshita-san's boyfriend Hikigaya-kun?" I saw Miura's eye twitch when Kyou said that, and I could swear she was suppressing… _something_. _That_ _was an interesting reaction…_ _Maybe I should try something here..._

"Hikigaya-san? Oh, the black-haired boy who was all chummy with Yukinoshita-san? The two of them seem so perfect together..." I kept a close eye on Miura's reaction, though she kept her calm. _Hmm… Maybe a little more of a push…_ "I feel kinda jealous, actually. They seem like a great couple, and Hikigaya-san is kinda handsome in a way, I guess..." Miura's eye twitched again, and she shifted her gaze to me. Her eyes looked similar to Hikigaya's, _dull_ and _lifeless_. _Oh? Now this is interesting…_

" _Is that so?_ " Miura said in a voice that caused even Kyou to flinch a little. " _So, do you know where he is, or can I leave?_ " She continued as her dull eyes stared into me. _Okay… She's starting to scare me a little now._

"You should ask my brother, just on the other side of the hallway." I replied to her and turned around to walk over to Tomoya, who was looking at the situation from the floor.

"Um… Yeah, I saw Hikigaya-kun talking with Haruka earlier. You should go ask him." Kyou said to Miura, her voice wavering a little.

"Alright, thanks, Okazaki-san." Miura said and turned around to walk to the door of our room. _She just did a full 180 in her attitude just like that… Scary._

"That was Miura-san, right?" Tomoya asked once Kyou walked back over to us.

"Yes, it was. But..." Kyou turned to look at me. "Sora… Why… did you say that to her? She didn't seem to like it… Were you intentionally provoking her?"

"Oh, well… Sorry, I guess. I just… wanted to see her reaction to something. Don't you find it odd that she would come on a vacation with Yukinoshita-san and Hikigaya-san?" I replied to her and sat back down on the chair.

"I… guess you're right. Did you… really mean that, though?"

"Hm? Oh, of course not. I have no interest in Hikigaya-san. I've got Haru, I don't need anyone else in my life." I said and huffed, only afterwards realizing my little slip-up.

"Can you rely on your brother like that forever, though?" Tomoya asked, and Kyou directed her gaze downwards, then her face became flushed again.

"T-Tomoya w-where do you t-think you're l-looking?!" Kyou shouted and brought her hands down to her legs. _Oh, right. Kyou is wearing a skirt, and is pretty much standing over Tomoya…_

"Hm? Oh, but that's nothing I haven't seen before, right? And if I understood Sora's implications correctly..." Tomoya replied and smirked, before Kyou kicked him in the stomach.

"Baka! Hentai!" Kyou shouted, and I couldn't help but giggle a little.

"Ow! B-but I know y-you want it too..." Tomoya tried to reply, but Kyou kept kicking him while he was trying to grab Kyou's leg to stop her relentless assault.

"Mama? Papa? You're being loud." Ushio said as she climbed on top of the bed and looked down at Tomoya, then turned her gaze to me.

"Mama has to teach papa some manners, now. Why don't you go with Sora back to her room? I think you two will get along nicely." Kyou said between gritted teeth.

"Well, Ushio? You can play with Haruka and I in our room while your parents… _cool off_ , okay?" I asked and leaned forwards towards the young girl.

"Okay!" Ushio replied to me and nodded.

I smiled at her and stood up from my chair, then took her tiny hand into my own. The feeling of holding her hand felt… amazing. _I want to do this with a child of my own, one day._ I thought as we exited the room, and I turned around one last time to look at the Okazakis before closing the door behind me. _And I really hope things work out between us and them. That was the first time in forever that I felt like I was with…_ family _._

* * *

 **AN: And we passed the two-week mark again, everyone! I apologize for this yet again, but this chapter is a little longer, which will hopefully compensate for it.**

 **I'm personally really happy with this chapter. For those of you who don't get the references, the characters I introduced in this chapter are from Clannad (Tomoya, Kyou & Ushio), My Youth Romantic Comedy SNAFU (Yukinoshita, Hikigaya, Miura) and Death Note (Mikami Teru). They'll continue to appear in the story, and there will be more interactions including them. And I will also say that one or more of these characters actually hints towards another fanfic I have started to work on, though it will be some time before I actually release it.**

 **I've also decided to utilize my profile on this site more. Every time I start working on a new chapter for one of my stories, I'll post an update on my profile that lets all of you know which story I'm working on, and when I started working on it. This should help out anyone who is waiting for my new chapters, so you can be sure I'm actually working on them. I'll say this same thing in the AN's of my other stories as well, when I release new chapters for them.**

 **That's all I have to say, so I'll see you all again in the next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Welcome back, dear readers! I know this chapter took ages to come out, but I've got a reason for that: Exam week. It started around the time I began writing this, and as studying took up most of what little free time I had, I didn't have that much time to write. It didn't help that I took ages on updating one my other stories as well (Changing Fate), since I'm struggling with it a little, which obviously pushed back this story as well. But, my other two stories are slowly nearing their conclusions, so I'll have more time to commit to this story (and the ones I'm working on in the future). Still, I do owe an apology for making you all wait for three weeks for this. Three stories to write + exams don't mix well, it seems.**

 **Another thing is that a helpful reviewer (RoarkCats) mentioned to me the possibility spoilers for including cross-over characters from other series. I will admit, the possibility of spoilers didn't even occur to me when writing, so I do apologise for that as well. To somewhat ease the situation, the backstories of the characters I've included have been modified (whether it's my own "headcanon" for that particular series, my own ideas for a planned fanfiction which I mentioned in the previous chapter's AN, or that I've just simply altered them to remove any supernatural elements, as both Clannad and Death Note feature them), so any spoilers should hopefully be miniscule. But, I will avoid letting anything important slip, although with my plans on integrating the Okazakis more into the lives of the twins, some reveals are inevitable.**

 **Before I start rambling, let's get this chapter on the road!**

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 **Chapter 9 – Sightseeing**

After spending the evening babysitting Ushio, and the night tangled in each other's bodies, Sora and I awoke early today, as was requested by Harri during our little meeting yesterday. All of us in our "tourist group", with the exception of Miura Yumiko, were present then, as Harri explained to us in detail about the things he had planned for us. As we knew beforehand, we were allowed to stay at Hotel Pohjanhovi for as long as we helped Harri with his project, which involved various things, all of which we discussed about yesterday.

Firstly, Harri's job was to make the experience that tourists coming here had better, and more memorable, so that they would come a second time or recommend the place for their friends. A marketing trick, essentially, although Harri did say that at least he personally does care for what he called the "comfort and enjoyment factor" of the tourists themselves. Which brings us to our job here. For now, Harri will have us provide him with feedback on things such as tourist attractions and public transport, as well as general information about these things given to tourists, and how it could be improved. While our group is relatively small, we still represent different age groups, interests as well as a different socio-economic status, which gives him important insight so things can be modified with the best interests of the tourist in mind. The oldest in our group, Mikami, is a single lawyer who has very little time for vacations, and so wants to make the most out of the trip. After that, there's the Okazakis. A family of three with a young child, who will need to be accommodated accordingly. Hikigaya and Yukinoshita are a young adult couple who go to University, and so their budget is limited. And finally, Sora and I, who, according to Harri, are the "teen-aged siblings wanting to see the world". And so, here we are now, getting ready for a sightseeing trip in Rovaniemi.

"Hmph. Took you two long enough." Mikami said and looked at his watch impatiently as Sora and I walked over to him in the lobby. "I was hoping we could depart five minutes early so we could have a little more time for the first couple of attractions, but no matter. At least you aren't late."

"Well, you did make a point about being punctual, and the whole 'time is money and as such should not be wasted' thing yesterday, so when Harri told us we'd be grouped up with you, I figured we'd be as quick as possible." I replied to him, and we began to make our way outside. "I will say that Sora doesn't have the best… _physique_ , so we might need to take some breaks every now and then." Mikami let out a sigh and glanced at his watch again as we exited the building, Mikami's rental car waiting just outside.

"Yes, I am aware of that fact. I believe that is why Harri adjusted our schedule so we could have time for those breaks. While it does _annoy_ me a little, I'm not as heartless as my outwards demeanour might suggest. Besides… I appreciate that you kids are respecting my wishes, and actually being on time. Helps me reinstate hope for your generation a little bit." Mikami said and let a smile appear on his face for a brief moment as we arrived at his car. "Well, let's get going then. Our first stop isn't massively far away, but we don't want to tire your sister out too much right away."

I nodded to him as a reply and we climbed into the backseat of his car. Unlike Japan, Finland uses a right-hand traffic system, meaning that for us Japanese people, everything relating to traffic seems to be flipped. However, Mikami is familiar with the right-hand traffic system, as he has experienced it before in the United States, so there were no problems with him driving a car here. _I was a little afraid of Mikami-san first, but he does seem like a good guy._

"Haru." Sora said and pulled on my sleeve slightly to bring my attention to her. "Where are we going first?" She then asked me, but before I could answer, Mikami spoke from the front seat.

"Harri arranged our two groups to go to different locations, before we meet up for lunch and change the groups around. The three of us will be visiting two museums today, Arktikum and Korundi. While the exhibitions at Arktikum are more about life this far north, Korundi is more of a standard art museum. We've got approximately three hours of time before we all meet up for lunch, and I'd like to make the most out of it." Mikami explained to Sora.

"Museums? Really? Isn't there any _fun_ tourist attractions here, like that one science centre back in Oulu?" Sora grumbled and crossed her arms while turning her gaze to look outside the window.

"Well… I think Harri said something about Arktikum being _kind of_ a science centre, and I remember something about another science centre with a focus on forests here as well. And museums aren't that bad, Sora. You just have to learn to appreciate them." I said to my sister.

"Depending on how the groups get shuffled around, you might get a chance to go there as well. The place Harri mentioned was Pilke, and it's right next to Arktikum. But, we have to remember that aren't here just to have fun. I don't know about you two, but I'll be thoroughly examining the quality of the service we get as tourists and providing him with a full report on everything by the end of the day." Mikami said from the front seat.

The rest of the trip we spent making small talk, though most of it was Mikami explaining the various things he was expecting, and how certain aspects of things like customer service would affect his final report. While Sora was visibly getting bored of his ramblings, I did find his spirit and commitment to the whole thing a little admirable. It didn't take long for us to arrive at the museum, and after finding a place to park Mikami's rental car, we found ourselves walking down the stairs towards the entrance to the museum. Most of the museum, and to my knowledge, all of the exhibits, were actually underground, with the most prominent feature that could be seen above ground being a nearly 200-metre long glass tube that acts as the roof for the main part of the museum. Harri had already reserved tickets for us, so we pretty much just walked into the exhibit zone, where Mikami took out a brochure before we began our tour.

"Right, Korundi opens at 11, so we've got about an hour of time before that. We can either try to spend approximately the same amount of time in both museums before lunch, or we can spend more time at one of them. I would personally prefer to spend more time here, as I've planned out a one-and-a-half-hour-long tour, but I will ask for your preference beforehand." Mikami said and turned to look at the two of us as he held up the brochure.

"I think this place might be more interesting than Korundi, so I'm up for it. How about you, Sora?" I replied and looked at my sister, whose gaze was currently fixated on what looked to be a stuffed reindeer just off to the right.

"Huh? Oh, right. I don't really care, but this place sounded more interesting than the other museum." Sora said and briefly looked at the two of us, before resuming her staring contest with the stuffed reindeer. _Sora… I can tell you're excited and curious, no matter how hard you try to hide it._ I thought to myself and smiled at my sister's antics.

"Alright, let's get going then." Mikami said and pulled out a black notebook and a matching ball-point pen from his pocket. For whatever reason, a chill went down my spine as soon as he did, and I shivered a little. _Is there a draft? It felt a little cold just then._ "We'll go along the exhibits in order, and I'll be writing down certain things along the way for Harri. Coincidentally, the exhibit about the reindeer-focused economy of the aboriginal people of Finland – the Sami, they're called – is the first part of our tour." Mikami continued and pointed his pen towards a sign next to the reindeer Sora was looking at. _He must have done some research before coming here._ I thought as we made our way to the exhibit, and I read the sign, which had text in multiple different languages. _Wait… he said the exact thing written here..? Is that just a coincidence, or..?_

"Mikami-san..." I said to bring his attention to me for a moment. "Did you… just read what it said on this sign to us from that distance?" I asked and looked at the black-haired man, currently engrossed in writing something in his notebook.

"Hm?" Mikami paused his writing for a moment and glanced at both me and the sign. "Oh, I have an eyesight of 3.0, so I can easily discern small details even from far away. If that's all, I'd like for us to get going." Mikami said to me and returned to his notebook.

"That's… very impressive, Mikami-san. But, yes, we should get going. Sorry, I know you can be impatient." I replied to him, and Mikami gave me a quick nod of acknowledgement, before we started our tour of the exhibit.

As Mikami had told us (and as I had read on the sign), the exhibit was focused entirely around the Sami people, and we learned a great deal about them. One thing I found interesting was that the Sami don't have a single language, but rather ten different ones, six of which have their own written standards, and that all of them are considered endangered languages, given the small amount of people that still speak them. Sora on the other hand wasn't that interested in the Sami themselves, but their culture seemed to pique her interest somewhat. At the very least, she spent a good deal of time looking at the traditional attire of the Sami people, which even I thought looked good with its blue, red and yellow colour scheme. _Hmmm…. I wonder what Sora would look like wearing one of those? I wonder if they sell clothes like that somewhere…_ I thought to myself as we made our way to the next part of the exhibition, where we saw another, larger group of tourists ahead of us. I could quickly count around a dozen people, all Japanese like us. With the group, there was a Finnish tour guide giving an explanation to them. _By the looks of it, they began their guided tour a little before we got here,_ _and now we've stumbled upon their group in the middle of it._

" _..._ _and because of this, the tools that the Sami people used were utilitarian in nature and made to_ _endure the long journeys they would make._ " The tour guide explained in English to the group of people while gesturing towards some knives seemingly made out of bone that were on display, while next to them a peculiar-looking cup made of wood hung from an antler on the wall. _I will say, they've absolutely nailed the atmosphere here in the museum._ I thought as we walked up behind the tourist group.

"Hmm… we should go ahead of the large group. We'll only be slowed down if we attempt to follow behind them." Mikami said and closed his notebook, then glanced towards me while raising an eyebrow, and I simply nodded to him in response. "Let's go then. The next part of the exhibit is just around the corner." I took Sora's hand as we began to make our way past the larger group of people.

Some of the tourists turned to look at us upon hearing Mikami speak Japanese, and we smiled to each other as our eyes met. Most of the group was too preoccupied with listening to the tour guide, though, so they didn't notice us. It was for this exact reason that one of them bumped into Mikami as we were trying to get past them, causing him to stagger and drop his notebook.

"Oh, sorry!" The man who had bumped into Mikami said and knelt down to pick up his notebook. "Here, you dropped it." He said and handed the notebook to Mikami, who snatched it from his hands quickly and glared at him.

"I am very much capable of taking care of my own things, thank you." Mikami said coldly, then turned to look at the two of us. "Come on, let's go." Sora and I glanced at each other, then followed after Mikami, leaving the man who had bumped into him in a state of confusion. _It seems he doesn't like other people touching his notebook, then. Is it that important to him? I thought he was just using it to write down_ _his report for Harri…_

I decided not to question Mikami's sour attitude, and we continued on with our tour. After the Sami exhibition, the next large exhibit was more focused on the nature of the north, and life here. It was quite fascinating to learn not only of all the wildlife here, but also the natural phenomena that occurred. The pictures about the aurora borealis – or the northern lights, as they're also called – were quite pretty, and made me want to come back here in winter so we could see them. Sora on the other hand wished we could come earlier in the summer, as she found the midnight sun to be quite romantic, and I was honestly a little surprised that she could think that way. Although, she was confused by the prospect of the sun never setting, but Mikami explained that it was caused because the Earth had a considerable amount of axial tilt, so when it rotated around its axis during summer solstice, the angle made it appear as if the sun never went down for an extended period of time. The same phenomenon occurred in the southern hemisphere as well, but six months later, when it would be winter in the northern hemisphere. While Mikami was explaining this, I could tell most of the words went into Sora's ear and came straight out the other, but she seemed to understand the gist of it.

Another exhibition that caught my eye was focused on the history of the city, Rovaniemi. As it turns out, during the second World War, Finland had initially been allied with Germany (which technically made them _our_ allies as well, since Japan fought against the Allied forces back then), but after a treaty they signed with the Soviet Union, all of the German forces were forced to retreat from the country. As part of this retreat, the German soldiers practiced scorched earth, destroying most of the city and the surrounding countryside, with the weapons and mines they left behind to hinder rebuilding still taking the lives of people years later. While Sora wasn't that interested, Mikami on the other hand was very intrigued by the history of the city, and the war itself. I had guessed that he was interested in history, and his job as a lawyer probably meant that he had at least _some_ interest in politics, and thus, the conflicts between different nations.

Before we knew it, we had completed a full tour of the place. Neither I or Sora had expected that a trip to a museum could be so fun and engaging that we wouldn't even notice time pass, but we were proven wrong. Mikami seemed satisfied as well, even as he hurried us to his car so we could move on to the second museum before lunch.

"Korundi is an art museum, and it's slightly smaller when compared to Arktikum, so we should be more than able to have a proper tour of it, and still make it in time for lunch. I believe it also only opened earlier this year, so we'll be among the first to get to see it. On the other hand, this will probably mean that it doesn't have as much to it as Arktikum does." Mikami explained as we left the parking lot outside Arktikum and began to make our way towards the art museum.

"Harri said we'd be having lunch at that one restaurant around the city centre, right? The one named after a mountain in Switzerland?" I asked from Mikami, since I couldn't remember the name of the restaurant myself. _I knew Harri mentioned that it was named after a Swiss mountain, though,_ _but I can't remember which one._

"Yes, _Monte Rosa_ , is the name you're thinking of. Although technically it's a mountain _massif_ and not just a singular mountain. In any case, it's quite a fancy restaurant in a very central location in the city, and Harri has made a reservation for us today. Normally, it wouldn't even be open at this time of day on a Sunday." Mikami explained from the front seat.

It didn't take long for us to arrive at the museum. Compared to Arktikum, Korundi was quite a bland building. It was made of red brick, and I got the feeling that it was quite an old building. _Hmm… I learned about the destruction of the city back in Arktikum… Could this have been one of the buildings that survived?_ _I think Harri did say that the museum was made after the old building was renovated, so it's possible._ I thought as I looked at the building as we made our way to the main entrance, marked by four large stone pillars. _Four pillars, huh? Heh, at least when they're outside like this, they're exposed to sunlight. Although I guess the Pillar Men would awaken when night falls… I hope the museum has a Hamon user at hand…_ I thought and chuckled to myself as we arrived at the entrance. Sora, seemingly intrigued by the pillars, laid her hand on the surface of one of them. _Well, her hand didn't sink into it, so I guess they're just normal pillars._

"They're made of granite, in case you're wondering." Mikami said from behind me as Sora and I looked at the four pillars. "Granite is very abundant here in Finland, and it's also the national stone of the country. Now, if you're done marvelling at the stonework, shall we head in?" I nodded to Mikami and took Sora's hand again as we entered.

"You seem to very informed about everything here, Mikami-san." I said as we made our way inside and proceeded to purchase tickets to the art exhibition.

"I do my research. It seems the only other person in our group who has done so is that Yukinoshita girl. In fact, she seems to have done even more research than I have, which is commendable. Even I didn't know that granite was Finland's national stone until I heard her mentioning it." Mikami replied as we arrived at the counter. " _Three tickets to the art exhibition, please._ " He said in English to the lady at the counter and took out his wallet.

" _Certainly! Let's se… for three adults, that would be twenty-seven euros in total. Unless, the two of them are under sixteen years of age, in which case it would be one adult and two children for a total of nineteen euros._ " The lady replied and glanced at Sora and I.

" _T_ _wo_ _adult tickets, please._ " I said to her in English and took out my own wallet. "Hideki gave us some money before we came here, I can pay for mine and Sora's tickets." I briefly said to Mikami, who nodded in response, before turning back to the lady at the counter. " _You said three tickets were twenty-seven in total, so would two tickets be… eighteen?_ " I asked her in English, and she replied with a nod.

" _That's correct, as it's nine euros for a single ticket._ " She said as she took the money Mikami and I offered to her. " _Thank you very much! I hope you enjoy the exhibition!_ " She said in a cheerful manner after handing us our tickets.

After receiving our tickets, the three of us made our way inside the exhibition itself. Mikami was already writing something down in his notebook, most likely about the performance of the woman who sold us our tickets. The exhibition itself was what one could normally expect at an art museum, nothing too fancy. Most of the pieces of art were from artists who lived here in the northern parts of Finland, and these artists seemed to be the focus of the exhibit. While Sora wasn't really that interested in the whole thing, one of the exhibits caught her eye. The exhibit featured gold as its main focus, and explored the subject from different angles, such as the metal's origins and uses, as well as history. It felt slightly out of place in an art museum, but it was very intriguing, and a welcome surprise. Mikami spent almost as much time writing in his notebook as he did examining the various pieces of art at the exhibition. I was curious as to what he was writing down in it, but after seeing how agitated Mikami got after someone other than him touched the notebook, I decided it was best that I didn't try to have peek at it.

As Mikami had said, Korundi was much smaller when compared to Arktikum, so we soon found ourselves finishing our tour of the various art exhibits. Sora was getting a bit tired of all the walking, and since we were a little ahead of our schedule, we decided to have a little break. Sora and I sat down at a bench in the lobby of the art museum while Mikami went back to the car to fetch a bottle of water for us. Some of the visitors gave us odd looks, as we no doubt stood out. Soon enough, Mikami returned inside with a bottle of water, which he handed to Sora.

" _Arigatou_ , Mikami-san." Sora thanked Mikami, who simply nodded in response and glanced around the lobby as he stood in front of us.

"You know, Mikami-san..." I said, and he turned to look back at me, raising an eyebrow. "...You're actually quite a nice guy. At least, compared to my initial impression of you." I said to him with a smile, while Mikami seemed to be surprised by my statement.

"Huh? Well… I wouldn't call myself exactly a 'nice guy', but I guess I'm not horrible either. I do know that I can be quite intimidating, and I don't deny that I don't exactly act friendly with others. Still, I do have my manners, even if I do appear quite rude sometimes." Mikami said and glanced at his watch, while Sora had a drink from the water bottle.

We spent a couple more minutes in silence as Sora rested, and Mikami took the time review his notes. When Sora felt like she had rested enough, and after our grumbling stomachs told us that sustenance was required, we left Korundi behind, and Mikami drove us to the restaurant. We were still a little early, but we didn't have to wait long until Harri and the rest of our group arrived.

" _Ah, you're already here. Great! Let's head inside, then. I've made a reservation for two tables, so we can split into two groups again._ " Harri said to all of us in English as we gathered out side the entrance to the restaurant.

" _I will assume that we will dine with our current group, yes?_ " Yukinoshita asked Harri and briefly glanced in our direction.

" _Oh, I was actually thinking that we could change around the groups now, since we're a bit ahead of our schedule. That way, we won't need to_ _waste any time afterwards._ " Harri replied to her and began to make his way inside, gesturing for us to follow.

" _Sounds reasonable._ " Yukinoshita said as we all made our way inside. _Monte Rosa_ was dimly-lit inside, and multiple tables were scattered around the place, with dividers between them to offer privacy. Immediately upon entering, I could spot what looked like a buffet table, though it was empty. A young woman greeted us upon entering, and talked with Harri for a little while before leaving us, going through what I guessed was an 'employees only' door.

" _Alright. I've reserved these two tables on your left. As we had planned, the groups you will be in for the afternoon portion of today's activities will be changed around. Let's see… Yukinoshita and Hikigaya, you will be grouped with the Kasugano twins, and Mikami will accompany the Okazakis._ _This way, we'll have two evenly-sized groups._ " Harri explained to us in English. I glanced towards Yukinoshita and Hikigaya as Harri finished, and my eyes met with Hikigaya's for a brief moment, before I felt a tug on my sleeve. Turning around, Sora leaned closer to me and whispered into my ear.

" _Did I… understand him correctly? We'll be paired with_ them _?_ " I nodded to Sora briefly, who let out a sigh. At the same time, I heard a sigh come from Yukinoshita as well, and saw her rubbing her temple with her fingers with an exasperated look on her face. I looked towards Hikigaya, who met my gaze and shrugged his shoulders, a small smile of amusement appearing briefly on his face.

"Come on, Yuki. You heard him. Let's just sit down, okay?" Hikigaya said and grabbed Yukinoshita by the hand, guiding her towards the table nearest to us. As they passed by us, Yukinoshita's gaze met mine, and I could feel the animosity she had towards me from her cold glare. _Well… I guess Hikigaya's nickname for her is fitting…_

"We should sit down too, Haru." Sora said and started to drag me towards the table as well, and we sat down opposite of Yukinoshita and Hikigaya. "We're going to be grouped together, so we might as well get along." She then continued and shot a glance towards Yukinoshita, and – to mine, and most likely her surprise as well – _smiled_ at her. _I'm not sure if what Sora is saying is truthful, or if she's just messing with her…_

"Kasugano-san is quite correct. While I feel extremely uncomfortable with just being around these two to the point of possibly losing my appetite, I will do my best to endure it and triumph." Yukinoshita replied sharply, and I saw Sora's eye twitch, but she kept her cool.

"Oi, Yuki. I don't think you need to be _that_ harsh with..." Hikigaya started, but stopped in his tracks once Yukinoshita turned her gaze to him.

" _What was that you were about to say, my dear Hachi?_ " Yukinoshita's tone of voice made me feel uneasy, and Hikigaya felt it too, as he flinched and looked away. We made eye contact for a brief moment, and I was reminded of what Hikigaya had told me yesterday. _He said he didn't have a problem with us, but he doesn't want to go against Yukinoshita-san. Or rather, he's too_ afraid _to go against her._

"Uh, n-nothing, Yuki. Let's… um… order?" Hikigaya said and started to look around, as if searching for something, while Yukinoshita let out a sigh and pinched her nose.

"There has to be something wrong with your ears. Either that or you have the attention span of a fruit fly, which suit you quite well, Hiki-insect-kun." Yukinoshita said, and for a split second I swear I saw a smirk on her face. "Harri already informed us earlier that we would be eating Finnish cuisine here today, already prepared for us. We simply have to wait patiently, though I'm not sure if someone like you is capable of being patient." _That's right, Harri did say something like that. But those are some harsh words to hear from someone who is supposedly one's girlfriend…_

"Oi, don't just casually call me an insect. And what do you mean I'm not patient? Being patient is one of my 108 skills, and I could argue that I'm the most patient man on the planet. I mean, waiting around for Yumi… err..." Hikigaya stopped as Yukinoshita shot a glare towards him, then cleared his throat. "And I've also got a great attention span. I can stay focused on a task expertly, as long as the task isn't meaningless."

"Oh, so you're saying that you have problems with your hearing, then? I had hoped that the problem was psychological and not physical, because then I could have at least attempted to fix your problems. Oh well, nothing to be done for old Hiki-bad-hearing-kun." I chuckled a little, as I found their conversation quite amusing, and as I glanced to my left, I could see Sora was also holding in her laughter. _I thought that getting paired with them might have been awkward, but it seems things are going smoothly, so far._

"Could you stop with the names? I know I put up with you daily, but some of the things you say can be hurtful, you know? And my hearing's fine. In fact, as a loner, I'd say my hearing is even better than everyone else's." Hikigaya's and Yukinoshita's banter was interrupted when Sora couldn't hold in her laughter any more, and burst out.

"Aahhh… You… two..." Sora managed to say once her laughter had subsided a little. "It's too fun… watching you two… You really are suited for each other perfectly." Sora said and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, still giggling, and I felt a smile forming on my face as well. _It's… been so long since I've last heard her laugh like that, I can't even remember when it last happened._ I brought a hand to rest on her right thigh and lightly squeezed it, while Sora glanced at me and raised an eyebrow briefly, before bringing her own hand atop mine. _I want to hear her laugh more often._

"Ah… well..." Hikigaya said and turned his head away while rubbing the back of his neck, a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Y-yes, we… got a little carried away with our banter. Apologies." Yukinoshita said quite timidly, and I could see that her cheeks were flushed as well as she glanced between Sora and I. Then, as if suddenly remembering the animosity she had towards us, she cleared her throat and shot some glares to both of us, although after seeing her 'moment of weakness', the glare didn't feel as intimidating as before, and I got the feeling that she might have 'reduced the intensity' of it herself. "In any case, as I was saying, our food should arrive soon. Harri should know more about it." I could suddenly feel Sora's hand grip mine a little tighter, before she let go of it and leaned forward in her seat.

"You know, Yukinoshita-san..." She said, and the raven-haired girl turned to face her with an inquisitive look on her face. Sora's eyes met mine for a brief moment before she continued. "I can tell you hate the two of us, but… what's the reasoning for that? Because honestly, Yukinoshita-san… I think I could get along with you, judging by how easily you shot jabs at your boyfriend." Sora said with a slight grin. _What is she planning..? I don't know much about Yukinoshita-san, but from what I've seen so far, I don't think they'd get along that well…_

"What do you..?" Yukinoshita glanced around the room, and I did the same. The divider between our table and the table where the Okazakis were muffled some of the conversation, and Harri was talking with one of the restaurant employees off to the side. If we were quiet, no-one would hear us. "It's obviously because of your… _immoral relationship_ with your brother." Yukinoshita said and glanced towards me.

"What do you mean by that? I don't understand what you're getting at, Yukinoshita-san." _She's feigning ignorance, just like I did with Hikigaya initially._ "Do you have any back to your claim?" Sora continued in an annoyed tone. Hikigaya's eyes flicked to me for a second, and I could see him raise and eyebrow. I wasn't completely sure with what Sora was trying to do, so I shrugged a little in response.

"You've… admitted it, haven't you? And back in Oulu, Hachi saw you two…" Yukinoshita frantically glanced between the two of us, then continued in a lower tone. "I was so sure… have I been hostile for nothing..?" She then turned back to Hikigaya. "Hachi. You remember it, right? You told me that you saw the two of them kiss, right? _Right_?" Yukinoshita placed a hand on Hikigaya's shoulder and gripped it.

"I… uhh..." Hikigaya glanced between Yukinoshita and I, but there wasn't really anything I could do in this situation to help him. _He can either support her claim, or try to avoid or deny it somehow. He knows the truth about mine and Sora's relationship but is okay with it, while Yukinoshita-san_ thinks _she knows the truth, and_ isn't _okay with it. How we handle this situation is entirely in his hands, now._ "Well… I think… I'm the one to blame, here. I… I think it's a misunderstanding. Back then, what I saw may have _looked_ like a kiss, but..." Hikigaya glanced at me again, and I gave him a slight nod with a smile. "I talked with Kasugano... _kun_ yesterday, and… We… set any misunderstandings straight." Yukinoshita turned to look me in the eyes, waiting for me to say something.

"Hikigaya's right, this has been a really big misunderstanding." I said and glanced at Sora. "Sora and I… we are very close, I will admit that. But that's because of everything that's happened in our lives. I've told Hikigaya a little about our past, but the main point is… Sora and I only have each other. And we've promised to stay together from now on, after being separated during our childhood." Yukinoshita's gaze lowered as I finished my explanation, and I could suddenly feel Sora grabbing onto my arm.

"What Haru said is right. We, and I especially, have no-one else to turn to. Haru takes care of me, and I wouldn't have it any other way. After all, he is my brother, and I love him." Sora said with a smile and squeezed my arm. _Sora is playing a dangerous game right now, but at the very least, we aren't lying. Just not telling the whole truth, is all._ "As Haru said, we promised we'd stay together, since we're happy with just the two of us. And with me being so weak physically… I need Haru to support me." Yukinoshita stayed quiet, her gaze directed downwards, and Hikigaya placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"I… don't mean this in a harmful way, Yuki, but… Given your own relationship with your own sister… I don't think you'd be able to fully understand. I'm sure they've been through a lot, and those things have lead to their current situation." Hikigaya looked towards me again, and a small smile formed on his lips, and I could just about spot him giving a thumbs-up with his other hand, so I returned the gesture. _As I thought, Hikigaya is actually a nice guy. I'll have to thank him for helping us out like this and keeping our relationship a secret._ My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a chair moving, as Yukinoshita stood up suddenly.

"I… I…" Yukinoshita's gaze was still on floor, but she took a deep breath and raised it to first meet Sora's eyes, then mine "Kasugano-san, Kasugano... _kun_?" She then said hesitantly, seemingly asking for my approval of the use of the honorific with her eyes, so I simply nodded to her, after which Yukinoshita bowed deeply, her head nearly coming in contact with the table. "I am deeply sorry for the way I've treated you two. After our initial meeting, I rushed to conclusions about you two, and made assumptions without knowing anything about you two or your circumstances. I hope that I can make amends, so that we might at least get along during our time here." Yukinoshita slowly raised her head as she finished, and glanced at the two of us on this side of the table.

"Don't worry, Yukinoshita-san. We haven't taken any offense to your words. And… I can understand somewhat as to how you reached your conclusions, but don't worry. We are but human, and as such, subject to error." I said to her with a smile, and after releasing a sigh of relief, she sat back down next to Hikigaya.

" _May I have everyone's attention?_ " Harri called out to all of us. " _The food is about to arrive, so I hope all of you will enjoy it._ _The reservation is for an hour, so we'll resume our activities at two._ _Please make sure to discuss where you want to go with your groups._ " Harri said and clapped his hands together.

As Harri said, it didn't take long until waiters and waitresses came in to the room carrying various platters and plates with them, taking the empty plates and cutlery to our tables, and the platters with food onto the empty buffet table just a little ways away from us. More and more food and drinks were brought out, until the buffet table was filled nearly completely. Since our table was closer to the buffet table, we decided that we'd go and get our food first. The first course consisted of various breads, _rillette_ made of reindeer, and two different kinds of soup: smoked reindeer and salmon. I hadn't gotten the chance to try reindeer yet, so I decided to go for the reindeer rillette, while Sora went for the safe choice of salmon soup. Yukinoshita seemed to be on the same wavelength as I was, as she took both a plate of the rillette and a bowl of smoked reindeer soup, though only a small amount of both of them. Hikigaya was suspicious of all the foods at first, but after some persuasive words from Yukinoshita, he decided to try the reindeer soup. And, by persuasive, I mean that she sent some hurtful jabs at how his rotten personality must be linked to his extremely unvaried diet.

" _Itadakimasu_." All of us said in unison and began to eat. The reindeer rillette was quite tasty, and judging by the reactions of Yukinoshita and Hikigaya, the soup wasn't too bad either. Yukinoshita finished the soup first, and cleared her throat afterwards, bringing our attention her.

"Kasugano-san, Kasugano-kun." Yukinoshita said, and the two of us looked up from our meals towards her. "I… I want to apologize again, and… I do have one question as well, relating to our previous conversation."

"Go ahead." I replied to her and took a sip of water.

"When I confronted you two back in Oulu after making my assumptions about your relationship, your sister's reaction was quite interesting, as she was quite defensive about the whole thing. That was one of the reasons as to why I… _believed_ that your relationship was… you know. Care to explain?" I looked towards Sora, who finished swallowing whatever she had in her mouth and let out a little sigh.

"I guess I owe an apology for that, too, as it must have only fed your misunderstanding. As was said previously, Haru and I promised that we would stick together due to everything that happened in our lives when we were young. Because of this… well… I'll admit it, I don't like the idea of Haru… _dating_ anyone. I fear that… the relationship would take away time from the two of us being together. And since I've become reliant on Haru… Anyway, I thought that since you asked about us being siblings… I thought you… might have… had your eye on Haru, so to speak." Sora explained. "But now that I've seen you interact with Hikigaya-san, I don't have that fear any more."

"I… see. But… that does seem like you're restricting his freedom, doesn't it?" For a brief moment, Yukinoshita's gaze flickered to Hikagaya, who had stopped midway through in putting a spoonful of soup into his mouth. "Ah… but… I do understand you. I'm sure you two have your circumstances, so I won't dwell on the matter. And looking at it from the perspective of someone who… i-is in a r-romantic relationship… I wouldn't want Hachi interacting with other women too much." Yukinoshita finished with a slight blush on her cheeks, and I could see Hikigaya visibly flinch at the mention of 'interacting with other women'. _That's right… Miura Yumiko is here with them on this trip._

"I'm glad that you understand. But, I don't personally see it as Sora restricting my freedom. Sure, I might not be able to date anyone, but I'm content with just living with Sora, right now. She's my precious sister, and as the only one she has to rely on, I need to take care of her." I turned towards my sister and smiled at her, and she smiled back at me, a slight blush making its way onto her cheeks.

"Haru..." Sora said quietly.

"Ah, but speaking of Hikigaya interacting with other women..." I said and turned back to face Yukinoshita. "How about Miura Yumiko? She's with you on this trip, right? I… met her for the first time yesterday, and she seemed to be quite close with Hikigaya." Now it was Yukinoshita's turn to flinch, and she quickly stood up from her seat, placing a hand onto Hikigaya's shoulder as she did so.

"Hachi, I think it might be time for the main course, don't you think?" Yukinoshita said coldly, and Hikigaya quickly stood up from his seat as well.

"Ah, s-sure. W-we'll be right back." Hikigaya said and the two of them left for the buffet table once more, leaving Sora and I dumbfounded. I looked towards my sister, who leaned closer to me and whispered into my ear.

" _I talked with Miura-san yesterday as well, when she was looking for Hikigaya-san. Long story short, I got the feeling there seems to be more to their relationship than meets the eye. At the very least, I think Miura-san might harbour feelings towards Hikigaya-san._ " I looked towards the couple as they picked out food for the main course and conversed about something at the same time. _More than meets the eye, huh? Yukinoshita-san told us that it was Miura-san's idea to take this trip, but so far Yukinoshita-san has avoided talking about her, and seems to dislike the idea of her being here. There definitely is something more going on here…_

Shortly, Yukinoshita and Hikigaya returned, and after Sora and I finished our plates, we moved on to the main course as well. The dishes for the main course consisted of a choice between _sautéed_ reindeer with a side of mashed potatoes, pickles, and some sort of red berry mash, and grilled salmon with a side of warm potato salad and some sauce, which – according to Harri – was apparently made of crab. Sora was still reluctant to try the reindeer, so she went for the salmon dish again, while I decided to go for the reindeer again, as I had liked the taste of it in the previous dish. As we returned to the table to eat, Yukinoshita resumed our conversation again.

" _Ahem_. To answer your previous question about Miura-san, she is… someone who is very close to both of us. She is one of the only people Hiki-friendless-kun here could count among his… _loved ones_. All three of us… _trust_ each other, so to speak, so there are no issues with her being close with _my_ Hachi. After all, _I_ amhis girlfriend." Yukinoshita wore a proud smirk on her face as she finished. While Hikigaya ate his food silently next to her. "But, I would prefer it if you did not dwell on the subject further. She has been ill, but is getting better, so you'll no doubt have more opportunities to speak with her yourself." I gave her an understanding nod and glanced at Hikigaya, but he was fixated on his food and didn't meet my gaze.

After Yukinoshita's response, a comfortable silence fell upon our table again, the only sounds coming from the cutlery, and the bits of conversation from the other table between Mikami and the Okazakis. As we ate in silence, I let my mind wander to various things, mostly focusing on the relationship of Hikigaya and the two girls close to him. _Yukinoshita-san definitely seems like the possessive type, that I am sure of, and most of the things she has said do conflict with the idea of bringing another girl with them on vacation. So why bring her in the first place? Granted, Miura-san was the one who suggested the whole thing, so it's understandable from that point of view. But, so far, Yukinoshita-san and Hikigaya have been acting all lovey-dovey with each other, so they're clearly enjoying this vacation with just the two of them… It also seems that Miura-san is sharing a room with the two of them, which I find really odd…_ I glanced at Yukinoshita on the other side of table as she elegantly ate the _sautéed_ reindeer. _Yukinoshita-san said that they all "trust" each other, whatever that means, so that_ might _explain them sharing a room, but… Yukinoshita-san and Hikigaya are a young couple on vacation, so they must partake in nightly activities befitting of a couple, at least at some point. Perhaps… Miura-san swings the other way, and as such has no interest in Hikigaya at all? Could that be "trust" that Yukinoshita-san mentioned?_ I shifted my gaze towards Sora, who was cutting up the salmon, seemingly having a little trouble with the knife and fork. _Then again… Sora said that she thinks Miura-san has feelings towards Hikigaya._ _Then there's the little slip-up from Hikigaya yesterday, when he said that despite all the trouble the two girls give him, he still "loves" both of them. Although, he could have easily just meant "like" instead of "love", which would still make sense,_ _as he finds both of them very dear to him._ _ **[1]**_ _Still… e_ _verything just… doesn't add up._ _There's definitely something more going on here._ As we were getting towards the end of our respective meals, Harri came and sat down at our table.

" _Hey! Have you all decided where you want to go after this? It would be best if you didn't end up going to the same place as the other group._ " Harri asked us in English as his gaze shifted around all of us.

" _Do you have any recommendations for us?_ " Yukinoshita asked after wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Hmmm… _Well, a good place to visit would be Pilke. It was opened earlier this year, and it's a pretty darn great place. The other group isn't going there either, so it would work out that way, too._ " Harri said and stroked his goatee. " _It isn't too far away either, just next to Arktikum. Although, I do know that Sora might have some problems if you were to walk there._ " Harri continued and looked towards my sister, who stayed silent for a couple of moments before replying.

" _As long as we can take breaks, I'll be fine._ " Sora replied in English, then returned her attention to her food.

" _That was… the Science Centre, right? The one with a focus on forests and such?_ " I asked, and Harri nodded in response. " _I think it would be a good place to go to, and I'm sure Sora will like it too._ " I said and glanced towards Sora, who simply nodded as she chewed on her food.

" _Then it's settled. We'll visit Pilke after we finish up here_." Yukinoshita said, and Harri rose up from his seat.

"Hey, don't I get a say in this? I have the right to voice my opinion!" Hikigaya protested, but Yukinoshita simply chuckled in response.

"Oh, the insect believes it has rights now, does it? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Hiki-loner-kun, that your opinion in this doesn't matter. I believe that it was you yourself who said that whenever you were forced to join a group with other people, whether it was for a project or a trip, you would just tag along whatever group was willing enough to tolerate your presence for extended periods of time. Isn't this a perfect situation, then? Besides, three out of the four people in our group agree to the idea, and in democracy, the majority vote wins." Yukinoshita was brutal in her verbal assault, and I chuckled a little.

"Sounds more like dictatorship than democracy… This is discrimination against the minorities! Democracy is just an excuse to oppress minorities in society! We need socialism, or even better, _communism_ , so that everyone would be equal. That's right, corporate slaves deserve the same minimum wage as the slave-drivers that are above the working class. Also, did you just use the word 'loner' in my name as an _insult_? Disgraceful. And, you can't really call me a loner any longer. Although I still am one in spirit and principle, but nowadays..." Hikigaya leaned closer to Yukinoshita and continued in a softer voice. "I've got _you._ " Yukinoshita's face became flushed a bright red, and she averted her gaze. "...And Yumi too." Hikigaya added quietly, a smile appearing on his face, before it twisted into a smirk at Yukinoshita's reaction.

"...As expected of you, Hachi. You don't play fair..." Yukinoshita said and placed her fork back onto the table, as Sora and I began to laugh at the situation. _I could definitely get used to having these two around. I hope we can stay in contact even after our vacation._

* * *

After lunch, the four of us headed towards the Science Centre, Pilke. As Haru and I had visited Arktikum earlier, we knew approximately where it would be located. At first, Yukinoshita was adamant about leading us there, as she apparently knew way there, since she had studied the layout of the city and possible tourist attractions beforehand. It became quickly evident that even with the research, her sense of direction was horrible, and if it wasn't for Hikigaya, we would have ended up going in pretty much the opposite direction. The only thing remotely useful that came from her research ended up being a little trivia fact about the layout of the city centre, where the roads and buildings were made to resemble a reindeer's head when viewed from above. I didn't really understand the "obsession" that Finland had with the animal, especially given that it wasn't even the national animal of the country, which – according to Yukinoshita – was the brown bear. Eventually, we made it to the science centre, which was located right next to the museum we visited earlier with Mikami. The building was made _completely_ out of wood, which was quite a feat in this day and age. Even Hikigaya seemed a little impressed by it, and I took him for someone who didn't really give a shit about anything.

"Well, here we are." Yukinoshita said and wiped her brow, letting out a sigh in the process as she leaned against a wooden signpost with her hand just outside the entrance to the building. "This took… longer than I had expected."

"Mostly thanks to you nearly getting us lost. And here I thought your sense of direction had improved since your High School days..." Hikigaya said with a sigh, and I leaned against the signpost next to Yukinoshita. "Hey… are you two okay?" Hikigaya asked with concern in her voice.

"I'm fine, Hachi. You know I'm still not confident with my stamina, and the route to here being longer than expected took its toll on me a little." Yukinoshita responded, and I heard Hikigaya mutter something along the lines of 'You can only blame yourself for that'. "But what about you, Sora-san? Harri mentioned something about you having problems if we walked here… Are you okay?" Yukinoshita asked, turning to look at me.

"I'm fine, Yukino-san. I've… got a weak physique, so even something like this is strenuous activity for me." I replied to her. "If we rest here a little before going in, I should be fine, and Haru's got some water with him as well." Before I could finish my sentence, Haru had already brought the water bottle to me, and I took a sip from it while I leaned against the wooden post.

On the way here, one of the things we discussed was how we'd address each other, now that we'd made up and settled our previous dispute. Since Haru and I were twins, it would get confusing to address us with our last names. Yukinoshita was quite formal with her speech, and insisted on the use of honorifics, while Hikigaya was the complete opposite. We settled on Yukinoshita addressing me with my first name, and Haru by his last name, while Hikigaya addressed both of us by our first names. Initially, Yukinoshita was against the idea of Hikigaya being on a first-name-basis with another girl, but gave into the idea after a 'compelling' argument from Hikigaya, mostly compromised of what Yukinoshita called his _trademark_ 'bashing the society' speech. Yukinoshita also insisted that I'd use her first name when addressing her, for two reasons. One reason, which she told to everyone, was that she felt that the two of us needed to be on a mutual first-name-basis to somewhat compensate for her previous actions, while the other reason – which she _whispered_ only to me and with a heavy blush on her face – was that she didn't _want_ to be called by her last name, and would rather be called _Hikigaya-san_ than _Yukinoshita-san_ , the implications being obvious. _Heh, that makes Haru and I seem like a married couple already…_ I thought to myself with a smile as my mind wandered to our discussions on the way here while we rested.

"Have you rested enough, Sora-san? Not that I'm rushing you, but I would like to get our tour of the place going." Yukinoshita asked me after a couple of minutes.

"Yeah, I'll be fine now. Come on then, Haru. I want to see if this place is as good as the Science Centre we went to in that other city." I said and handed the water bottle back to Haru, then took his hand as we began to make our way inside.

"That's right… we first met there, didn't we? In the tower that overlooked the city?" Yukinoshita said and brought a hand to her chin as she thought, and I nodded to her as a reply. "Back then, I would never have guessed that we would not only meet again, but that we'd working together on Harri's project like this." As Yukinoshita finished, we arrived at the counter inside and bought ourselves tickets, then made our way to the exhibition area.

The Science Centre had its main focus on forests, specifically the forests of Finland, with the phrase "See the forest for the trees" all over the place. As we walked down a large set of stairs down the exhibition part of the building, we got a good look at just how big and open the building was. Yukinoshita explained to us that the building wasn't just a science centre, and that it's main focus was to actually be an office building, with the exhibition space being a large, completely open area. I was quite stunned at the interior of the building, and all the open space made it feel refreshing compared to everywhere else I had been so far. The air inside the building was also quit pleasant, unlike the stuffy indoor air one usually finds in buildings, which Yukinoshita attributed to the building being made of wood, as wooden surfaces even out indoor air humidity, and thus improve the air quality indoors. As we looked around the exhibition area after getting down the stairs, one of the "attractions", so to speak, caught our eye. In one corner of the room, just below the stairs, there was a large screen situated against the wall, with what seemed like toy rifles in a rack in front of the screen.

"That… kind of looks like a shooting game you'd find in an arcade." Haru said as we made our way over to the attraction, and upon a closer look, we saw a panel of text next to the screen.

" _Test your hunting skills_?" Hikigaya read out loud the English words written there. "Oh, I get it. Hey, Haruka. Want to give it a go?" Hikigaya asked Haru and picked up one the rifles.

"Why not. It's been quite a while since I've been to an arcade, so excuse me if my aiming is a little rusty." Haru said and moved over to Hikigaya, picking up the second rifle, then turning to face me again. "Will you be alright, Sora?"

"I'll be fine, we won't be far." I replied to him with a smile. "I know you need some _guy time_ with another man, especially after being with me for so long." I said in a teasing tone, and Haru chuckled a little.

"Well, it's not like I dislike being with you, Sora. But, I guess you're right. Hideki and Tomoya-san are a little old for this kind of thing, after all. Although, I get the feeling that they're both childish enough to actually go for it..."

"It is said that men never grow up and get mature, they just grow bigger. Children trapped in the bodies of adults. How sad is _that_?" Yukinoshita said and smirked a little as her gaze shifted to Hikigaya.

"Oi, why'd you look at me when you said that?" Hikigaya replied in an annoyed tone, while Yukinoshita just giggled.

"My, the leech thinks I was paying attention to it. I think we should go, Sora-san, before we get infected with Hikigerms from this disgusting creature." Yukinoshita continued in her teasing tone and began to gently push me away from our partners.

"Even though I've gotten used to it, hearing things like that from your girlfriend's mouth does sting, you know..." Hikigaya said and sighed, but Yukinoshita and I had already made our way to another part of the exhibition.

"I do wonder… aren't you a little harsh on Hikigaya-san sometimes?" I asked as we walked over to a large pillar made of wood that stood in the centre of this part of the exhibition, apparently consisting of sixteen cubic metres of wood.

"I… well, I sometimes think that's the case as well, but… I make it up for him. And as he said, he's gotten used to it. We've bantered like this since our second year of High School, after all. And… well, let's just say that I _know_ he won't be _leaving_ us… er, _me_ for something so trivial." Yukinoshita replied with an… _odd_ smile on her face. _'Us'? What was that little blunder then? And what's with the smile?_ "Sora-san?" Yukinoshita's voice brought me out of my thoughts as she caressed the wooden pillar with her hand. "Pardon me for asking, but… You mentioned that you and your brother… only have each other? Could I… inquire about your past?" She then continued in a slightly lowered tone. _I was expecting this sooner. I just need to be careful here. She bought our story, which technically was true, but we don't want her knowing the_ full _truth._

"I don't mind you asking." I replied and placed my own hand on the pillar as well, feeling the texture of the wood underneath my fingers. "Where to start… Well, as I mentioned already, I'm quit weak physically, and always have been. When we were little, I would spend extended periods of time in hospital, so I didn't have many – or rather, _any –_ chances to see my brother. When I was finally healthy enough to live at home… We had already missed so much of our early life together. We rapidly made up for the lost time, though, and made a promise that we'd never want to be separated from each other." I paused my explanation to Yukinoshita for a moment and glanced at her. A small smile formed on her face, and she looked like she was reminiscing about something.

"The innocent promises of young children..." Yukinoshita said softly. "Oh, but please, continue."

"Well, after that… one of the two big tragedies of our life happened with the death of our grandparents. For us, it meant that we couldn't visit their home village, Okukozome, any more. We were separated from our friends there, and the memories we made together slowly began to fade. Then, years later, the second big tragedy of our life happened." I paused for a moment to take a deep breath, and Yukinoshita turned to look at me fully. "Our parents… were in an accident. They didn't survive." Yukinoshita's eyes widened, and I could see the fingers caressing the wood stop abruptly. "We still had some family left that could have taken care of us, but… no-one wanted to take _both_ of us in. But we didn't want that." I clenched my fingers into a fist and exerted some force onto the pillar, as the mere memory of their suggestion caused my blood to boil with anger. "Haru sold the house we lived in, and we moved to Okukozome, to the house of our late grandparents. This all happened… not too long ago, actually. And now, after some… _drama_ relating to our childhood friends and our family members still being insistent on separating us, we're… well, here." I turned my gaze towards Yukinoshita, who lowered her gaze as our eyes met.

"I… I'm sorry..." Yukinoshita said quietly and bit her lip. "I truly had no idea that you had gone through all of that. I jumped to conclusions based on my own false observations. If you've only got each other… it makes sense that you'd grow close. And… and… Well… I'm not that close with my family… _any more_ , and my older sister…" I now saw Yukinoshita's hand clench into a fist as well, but she took a deep breath and calmed herself. "I used to follow in her shadow. I idolised her. But then… we grew cold and distant. But I don't regret it. Maybe that's why… I didn't understand that siblings could be so… _close_. That they could… depend on each other." I placed a hand on Yukinoshita's shoulder and lightly gripped it, and as she raised her gaze to meet mine, I simply smiled at her.

"It's okay, Yukino-san. You had every right to be suspicious, and I don't deny that I can be clingy when it comes to my brother, but… That's all we can do. We just need to stay together, and cling onto each other, since there's no-one else there for us." I internally patted myself on the back for being so _persuasive_ , and how easily I was able to skirt the truth, yet stay close enough to it so I wasn't lying. _Then again… I really feel like I would need at least…_ someone _who I could be fully honest with about my relationship with Haru._ _But that might be too much to ask._ As Yukinoshita smiled back at me, I removed my hand from her shoulder, then turned around and took a few steps forwards, away from her. "You know..." I said and felt a smirk forming on my face. _It doesn't hurt to be a little more truthful to her._ "I'll let you in on a little secret." I turned around to face Yukinoshita again, as she tilted her head slightly in confusion. "Back when we were little, after we had gotten reunited… I used to have a crush on Haru." I said to Yukinoshita with a wink, as her eyes widened again. "But, I'm not little any more, am I?" I then said with a little giggle before turning around again. _That's right… It's not a lie._ I thought and glanced towards my brother, who was aiming the rifle towards the screen in the distance.

 _After all, what we have now is far from a simple crush._

* * *

 **AN: And I'm finally done, phew. This and the previous chapter are probably the ones I've done the most research for, and it really shows. I actually live in Rovaniemi, but even I had to search around for tourist spots _other_ than the Santa Claus Village, where most of the tourists here come to. Given that this story takes place in the summer, it wouldn't really feel right to have the characters visit it. In the end, though, I ended up having them visit the places I'm most familiar with: Korundi, Arktikum and Pilke. Still, I had to do some research about the opening hours and different exhibits at all of them. All in all, I'm really proud of this chapter, especially since I got to "show off" the _hoods_ where I've spent most of life at, and throw some random trivia about Finland to all of you! Trust me, when you tell people that Finland's National Stone is Granite, all the ladies will be flocking over to you. Works at least 50% of the time.**

 **The next chapter will not take nearly as long as this one did, that I can promise. My new semester is quite lax, so plenty of time to write! I'll see you all in the next one!**

 **[1] "** _ **Daisuki**_ **" in Japanese can mean both romantically loving someone/something, or simply liking someone/something a lot, like a friend or family member. This also applies to when Sora said earlier that she "loves her brother", in which case she would have used the word "daisuki" had this been written in Japanese, but the people hearing it (specifically Yukinoshita) would have understood it as Sora simply saying that she is very fond of her brother, but** **doesn't necessarily love him** **in a romantic sense,** **similar to how English speakers may say that they love their parents, friends or pets** **. Of course, we all know what she** _ **really**_ **meant with that line ;** **)**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Welcome back, dear readers! Your numbers increase nearly exponentially every time I decide to check the statistics for this story, and by the time I started writing this chapter (Which was two weeks after the last chapter, apologies!), there's nearly 3000 views! The support you guys have given this story is quite astounding, as I never expected this much of it. I always enjoy reading the reviews you write, and some of them have legitimately brought a smile to my face. Keep them coming!**

 **And, without further ado, let's get back to the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10 – Family Ties**

"Are you sure you're okay, Sora?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, Haru. Just feeling a little sick."

"You say that, but… I'm still worried. You're not the strongest physically, so you being sick like this makes me very worried for you."

I was currently lying down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as Haru sat in a chair next to me. It was a Tuesday morning, two days after our first sightseeing trip with Harri's group. I had woken up an hour ago feeling very nauseous, and I managed to get to the toilet just in time before my stomach emptied out its contents – through my _mouth_. Not a pleasant experience, and definitely not the best way to wake up.

"I'm feeling much better now compared to when I woke up. If I just rest, I'm sure I'll be fine." I said to Haru and turned my gaze towards him, and despite replying to me with silence, I could tell that he wasn't convinced yet, so I let out a sigh. "We've been doing things for Harri for two days, and it's a new environment, so it's no surprise that I'd get a little sick. This is our first day in Rovaniemi where we're free to do whatever we want, and… I wouldn't want you to spend it cooped up in a hotel room." I said to him with a smile and reached out my hand to caress his cheek. "I'll be fine, I just need some rest."

"Sora..." Haru said and brought his hand up to hold mine, and we gazed into each other's eyes for a few seconds, before we were interrupted by someone knocking on the door. "Ah, I'll go see who it is." Haru said and let go of my hand as he stood up, sending me one last glance with a smile before he made his way to the door. "Oh, it's you, Tomoya-san. Good morning, what brings you here?" I lifted my head a little and saw Tomoya standing in the doorway in front of Haru.

"I'm surprised you're awake already. Oh, but, sorry. Good morning." Tomoya replied to Haru and peeked through into the room, meeting my eyes for a moment. "I was just wondering if you two would like to hang out today. Though, it seems like your sister is still sleepy." He then said and chuckled.

"Well… actually… Sora is feeling a little under the weather. She insists that she's fine, but…" Haru said and rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze shifting between me and Tomoya.

"Oh, that's unfortunate… Hopefully she didn't catch whatever Miura-san had." Tomoya replied and looked towards me again, then took on a thoughtful pose for a few moments. "Say… How about I get Kyou in here to watch over Sora-chan, and the two of us go and have some guy time together? Ah, it'll be just like back in my High School days with Sunohara..."

"Really? Would… she be okay with it?" Haru asked and looked towards me again. _He' s still reluctant, isn't he?_ I thought and sighed.

"Haru." I said and brought their attention to me. "I'll be fine with Kyou-san watching over me, you can go with Tomoya-san. I'll just be resting anyway, and I've been wanting to speak with her anyway, since we haven't gotten many chances with Harri having us do sightseeing for the last two days." Haru looked at me for a few moments, then let out a sigh.

"Alright, Sora. You can be stubborn about the weirdest things sometimes..." Haru said and shook his head, then turned to Tomoya. "If she really doesn't mind, I'd appreciate it if Kyou-san could keep Sora company."

"I'll go ask her now, but I'm pretty sure she'll agree. Kyou hasn't really been able to get close with Miura-san or Yukinoshita-san, so she'll appreciate Sora-chan's company." Tomoya said with a smile, and Haru nodded to him before he left our room.

Haru walked back over to me and sat down on the bed next to me. We didn't say anything as Haru leaned backwards, so I reached out with my hand and gently stroked his head, running my fingers through his hair. I could tell my brother was still reluctant about leaving me, even if I was going to be with Kyou. _I know he's just worried about me because he loves me, and I do admire that, but… I don't want to drag Haru down forever. I've got to learn to take care of myself, so that I can stand together with Haru as an equal._ Haru placed his hand on top of my free one and turned to smile at me as he lightly squeezed it. _Though… I don't mind that he takes care of me._ We soon heard another knock on the door, but before Haru could even move, the door was already opened, as Kyou stepped in.

"Sora! Are you alright?" Kyou asked as she made her way over to us, standing next to the bed as her gaze shifted between Haru and I.

"Mostly. I woke up feeling really sick, but I'm much better now. I still don't want to risk getting up from bed, though." I replied to Kyou, then saw Ushio peeking at me from the foot of the bed.

"Sora-onee-chan? Are you okay?" Ushio asked, her amber eyes gazing into mine with worry in them.

"I'm fine, Ushio. You don't have to worry." I said to the little girl with a smile, who let out a small sigh of relief, then turned to Kyou again.

"So… will you look after Sora if Tomoya-san and I go out?" Haru asked, and Kyou took on a thoughtful pose.

"Hmmm… I don't know… I agreed initially, but..." Kyou paused briefly and shifted her gaze towards Ushio. "If I have to look after Ushio as well, it might become a pain..."

"Huh? Kyou, you're a kindergarten teacher, you should have no problems with this." Tomoya said and leaned against the doorframe, while Kyou let out a sigh.

"What I'm saying is… that you two will take Ushio with you! Right, Ushio? Don't you want to spend time with daddy and Haruka-onii-chan?" While Tomoya recoiled back in shock, Ushio brought a finger to her chin as she glanced between Tomoya and Kyou, as if weighing the options, before turning to Kyou and nodding. "There you have it, Tomoya! Now, you three go and have fun together! I'll keep Sora company!" Kyou then said and motioned for Tomoya and Haru to leave, while Ushio made her way towards her father.

"W-wait, Kyou?! You can't be-" Tomoya started, but Kyou cut him off.

"Did you not understand, Tomoya?" Kyou said in a cold voice. "If you're going to leave me – your _wife_ – out from having fun, you might as well take your daughter with you. Wouldn't you agree, Haruka?" Haru flinched a little as Kyou turned to look at him.

"Huh? I, um..." Haru glanced between Tomoya and Kyou, before his gaze landed on me. _What does he expect me to do?_ I thought and shrugged, while Haru just sighed. "You've… got a point, Kyou-san. And… I don't mind having Ushio with us." Haru then said with a smile.

"There you have it, then." Kyou said and took on a triumphant pose. "I'll see you later, Ushio! Have fun with daddy and Haruka-onii-chan!" Kyou patted Haru on the shoulder, who smiled at her before turning to me again.

"See you soon, Sora. If anything happens, call me immediately." Haru said to me and I nodded to him as a response, after which he made his way to Tomoya and Ushio. "Shall we go?"

"Alright..." Tomoya said with a sigh, then waved at Kyou and I. "We'll be back by lunchtime, okay? Hopefully Sora-chan will feel feel better by then."

"You're stalling, aren't you?" Kyou said and cracked her knuckles as she sent a dismissive glare towards her husband, who quickly proceeded to grab both Haru's and Ushio's hands.

"We're going!" Tomoya shouted as the exited the room. As the door closed behind them, Kyou let out a sigh.

"I don't think he's grown up at all since his High School days, seriously… But, at least, he's a better person than he used to be. Well, I think he always was a good person deep down, but… it was Nagisa who brought that to the surface..." Kyou said quietly as she stared off into the distance with a melancholic look on her face. _Nagisa was Tomoya-san's wife, but she was also a good friend to Kyou… Losing someone so close… Haru and I know how it feels…_ "Oh, sorry, I started rambling a little there..." Kyou said as she snapped out of her reminiscing, laughing awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Are you feeing okay? Tomoya said to me that you were sick, but… That's about it."

"Oh, I'm feeling much better now. I woke up feeling really nauseous and… _threw up_. I think it might be because I've overexerted myself with the sightseeing trips we had yesterday and the day before that, but I don't really know." I explained to Kyou and sat up on the bed, while Kyou sat in the chair Haru sat in not too long ago.

"Woke up feeling nauseous? I wish that happened to me..." Kyou said and sighed again. _Huh? Why would she want that?_

"What… do you mean by that, Kyou-san?" I asked and tilted my head in confusion. _I can't imagine why she would want to feel sick? Throwing up is not a nice feeling…_

"Huh? Well, you know… morning sickness is a _symptom_ of pregnancy, so… If I suddenly started experiencing it… It would be a sure sign of me being pregnant." Kyou said timidly and scratched her cheek. _Wait… a symptom of… pregnancy..._ "Oh, I also… kind of want to… thank you for what you did. Tomoya and I… had a… n-nice time..." Kyou's face became redder with each second as she fidgeted in her seat. I fully understood what she implicated, but I was focused completely on what she had said just a moment earlier. _Morning sickness… a sign of being pregnant…_ _Could that mean..?_ I brought a hand down to my stomach, while Kyou looked at me with a curious expression. "Sora..?"

"Ah..." I quickly pulled my hand back as I felt my cheeks heating up. "N-nothing. You… um… w-wanted a child, right?" Kyou nodded slowly, still eyeing me curiously. "W-well, then, y-yes, it would be a… good sign." I said and cleared my throat in hopes of lessening the blush on my cheeks a little.

"Hmm..." Kyou narrowed her eyes as she looked at me for a few moments. _What is… she thinking? I mean… I guess I am being a little suspicious, but…_ "You're… not feeling sick now, are you? Do you need to go to the toilet?" I inwardly let out a sigh of relief. _She just thinks I was holding my stomach because I was feeling sick… I'm glad…_

"No, I'm fine. After the initial nauseousness passed, I've felt okay, if a little dizzy. Even with my weak physique, I'm sure I'll be fine." I replied to Kyou and smiled.

"Well, that's good." Kyou said and stretched as she leaned back in the chair. "Still… Suddenly becoming sick in the morning, but the feeling going away so soon… It does sound like the morning sickness associated with being pregnant… You haven't had a craving to eat clay or dirt recently, have you?" Kyou asked as she turned to look at me again.

"Eh? Why would I want to… eat dirt? A-and h-how could I be… p-pregnant…" I averted my gaze from her as I suppressed the blush on my face to the best of my ability.

"Just asking. And, yeah, unless you've been doing something behind your brother's back – or maybe behind _our_ backs _with_ your brother – you wouldn't be pregnant, so it's probably just that you've caught a virus from somewhere and gotten sick as a result." _If only you knew how close to the truth you are, Kyou-san… Wait.. she… doesn't know, does she?_ "Sorry, I'm just teasing you. But… You wanted a child too, though, didn't you?" Kyou paused, and I nodded to her as an answer. "I know Tomoya already asked you this on Saturday, and I _deflected_ the question then, so I'm sorry if it's insensitive or rude of me to ask, but… If you really do want to get pregnant, and raise the child together with your brother… How would you actually… go about doing that? Artificial insemination?" I could feel the blush creeping back onto my face, but I kept my gaze locked with Kyou's.

"Well..." _What do I respond to her? Should I… tell her the truth? No, as much as I want to, I can't risk the relationship we've built up breaking after such a short time… Kyou-san is not ready to hear the truth yet, but…_ "I… don't really know about this stuff, but… I could have someone act as a… _donor_ , right?" Kyou nodded briefly, and I took a deep breath before continuing. "I… I've been thinking that… maybe… Haru… could be… the donor..." _I know what I'm doing is dangerous, but… This way, I can at least get to see what her reaction to this would be, without outright telling her the truth._

"Eh? Y-your b-brother?" Kyou looked back at me with a shocked expression on her face. "But… wouldn't that technically be… _incest_?"

"Would it… be that bad? I mean… he'd just… you know. Haru… is the only person I can think of for this." Kyou brought a hand to her chin, though her expression remained largely the same.

"Well… I guess it wouldn't be _that_ bad..." Kyou said quietly, and I could feel a small smile forming on my face. "But… I feel like… it'd still be _wrong_ in a way, and… You two being so closely related might cause some _birth defects_ for the child..." Kyou looked me directly in the eyes as she continued in a more serious tone. "I do understand you somewhat, but… would you be okay with that? It's quite a risk."

"It's… a risk I'm willing to take. I'll be happy as long as I can have Haru's baby." I replied to Kyou, only realizing what I had said afterwards, when Kyou's eyes widened at my statement. "I-I mean… have a baby, of course. I-it would be Haru's, of course, but t-that's… unavoidable." I attempted the salvage the situation before Kyou questioned my statement. _I was careless and let my honest thoughts slip… I'll have to be more careful._

"R-right of course, that's… right." Kyou said and laughed awkwardly, then cleared her throat. "Have you spoken to Haruka about this?" _Technically… I have, but… A small lie doesn't hurt, considering how much we're keeping from her already._

"I haven't. But… I don't think Haru would refuse it, if that's what you're getting at. Haru is… not the type of person who would do that, especially if I explain to him that I'm… _uncomfortable_ with having someone else… act as my donor." I said, and Kyou smiled at me, though it felt a little… _forced_ , as if there was something else behind it. _Is she… suspicious of me now? I wouldn't be surprised, but… Kyou-san and Tomoya-san aren't ready to know about our relationship yet…_ After a few seconds of silence, Kyou was about to say something to me, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Ah, should I get that?" Kyou asked, and I nodded to her.

As Kyou stood up and turned around, her long, purple hair passed by my face, filling my nostrils with her scent. _I never really noticed it, but Kyou-san really is beautiful… I'm surprised that Tomoya-san fell for someone else back when they were in High School, given that they knew each other back then… I'll have to ask her about it. And that might steer the conversation away from…_ pregnancy…I shook my head lightly to clear my thoughts as Kyou opened the door, then moved to the other end of the bed so I could better see who the person knocking on our door was. "Oh, Miura-san! Good morning!" _Miura-san? What is she doing here?_ I thought as I peeked past Kyou, seeing the blonde locks of hair just past Kyou's purple ones.

"Huh? Okazaki-san? Did I get the wrong door..? Isn't this like, the room of the Kasugano twins?" Miura asked and leaned to the side as she looked into the room, freezing in place as soon as her gaze met mine. Compared to when I first saw her, she was already visibly looking much better, and had ditched her scarf in favour of more casual clothing, so I figured that she must have already gotten over her sickness. _I didn't get off to a good start with her, and while I would like to blame it on her condescending attitude towards me, I can't let her fully take the blame. Not with the things I did and said._

"Yes, this is their room. Haruka just left not too long ago with Tomoya and Ushio, while I stayed behind with Sora. She was feeling sick, and decided to stay in bed for today, so I'm here to keep her company and look after her." Kyou explained and briefly glanced towards me.

"Oh, I see. I guess I'll come back later, then." Miura said, and was about to turn around and leave.

"Wait, Miura-san." I said, and the blonde girl stopped in her tracks, while Kyou moved out of the way so the two of us could maintain eye contact. "Do you need something from us?"

"No, I just like, wanted to talk with your brother. Since he's not here, I have no reason to be here either." _She wants to talk with Haru? Why?_

"Talking with Haru means talking with me. If you have something to say, you can say it to me." I moved to a sitting position on the bed as I faced Miura, a slight feeling of nauseousness returning.

Miura glanced at Kyou, then shifted her gaze to me again for a few seconds, before letting out a sigh and walking past Kyou, stopping just in front of me. Miura looked at me for a few more seconds, narrowing her eyes as she did. _What's with this atmosphere?_

"Hikio told me some… _things_ about you two." Miura spoke after an awkward amount of silence. "What... is the exact _nature_ of your relationship with your brother?" _Hikigaya-san… told her about us?_ I could practically feel the blood drain from my face. _Haru told me that Hikigaya-san knows about us, but is okay with it, and is keeping it a secret from Yukino-san, but… Miura...san…_ The feeling of nauseousness suddenly got stronger, and everything started to look hazy. "Huh? Hey, are you like, okay?" Miura placed a hand on my shoulder and lightly shook me.

"Sorry… must be… still sick..." I mumbled, and could feel something burning up in my stomach. I looked towards Kyou and extended a hand. "Kyou-san… Toilet… now..."

"Oh!" Kyou rushed to me, and Miura moved out of the way as she wrapped an arm around me and guided me to the toilet – just in time for the _second_ unpleasant experience for the day.

 _This day is off to a good start._

* * *

"Papa, make me go fast!" Ushio said as she sat in the swing, her little legs waving about.

" _Hai hai_." Tomoya replied with a sigh as he stood up from next to me and made his way to his daughter, then proceeding to give Ushio a helping hand with the swing. _Looking at this father-daughter combo is soothing to the soul. If… no,_ when _Sora and I have children… I want to be a father like Tomoya-san._ I thought to myself and smiled.

Initially, Tomoya had wanted for the two of us to go around town and "mess around" as "only two guys could", but since Kyou had entrusted Ushio to us, our plans had to be changed somewhat. Which brings us to this park, not too far away from the hotel. The Lumberjack's Candle Bridge could just about be seen if I looked to the east, and even from such a distance, it was still a sight to behold. It was still quite early in the morning, and given that it was a weekday, we were the only people in the park, and because there weren't many cars passing by, everything felt _serene_. As I let my thoughts wander, I found my gaze landing on Tomoya as he gave little boosts to Ushio in the swing. Looking at the two of them, I could do nothing but smile. _Tomoya-san sure is lucky to have such a wonderful daughter._

"Hm? What is it, Haruka? You've been staring at me for a while, now." Tomoya's words brought me out of my thoughts as he turned to face me, while still making sure to give Ushio little boosts.

"Oh, sorry. There's just something… _calming_ about watching you two." I replied to Tomoya, and could see a smile forming on his face. "We haven't known for that long, but… I know you're a great dad, one that I'm sure your daughter is proud of."

"Well… I don't know about that, but… thanks, Haruka." Tomoya replied and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "I think… you'd make a good dad, too." Tomoya continued after a few moments of silence. "You know… Kyou and I talked with Sora a bunch on Saturday, and… she told us of your _plans_." _'Plans'? What did Sora tell them? She hasn't told me anything like that…_

"Oh? What did she tell you about them?" My question was genuine, since I truly didn't know what Sora had told the Okazakis, but due to the way I worded it, my ignorance was hidden from Tomoya.

"She… told us how you two are planning on raising a child together." As Tomoya finished, I immediately felt my cheeks heating up at the implications of his words. _Sora?! I thought we agreed to keep our relationship a secret from them – at least for now!_ Seeing my expression Tomoya continued after a small pause. "S-sorry, I worded that in a weird way… W-what I meant was… Sora told us that she… wanted a child, and given her frailness, she asked us about advice, since my… _late wife_ was also physically weak. She said that you two had talked about taking care of the child together." I let out a sigh of relief as Tomoya cleared up what he had said. _So Sora didn't tell them everything, that's good. Still… She's playing a dangerous game._ Once I noticed that Tomoya was looking at me with curiosity written all over his face, I cleared my throat and replied to him.

"Right, of course. She… wasn't lying when she said that. As you know, Sora and I promised each other that we'd stay together, and since for some time now, she's wanted a child… I promised her that I'd help take care of the child with her, like a… _father figure_." I didn't know exactly what Sora had said to them, but as long as I didn't try to make up something too far-fetched, the story should be valid.

"Yeah, I get that part. I already asked this from Sora, – but Kyou said that it was insensitive of me to ask, so I never got an answer – but how would… How should I put this… How you plan on… getting Sora… _pregnant_ in the first place?" Tomoya had stopped helping her daughter with the swing, so she had turned to face us – with a slight pout on her face.

"Well..." _Given that Sora didn't tell them about it, I could probably make up something here… I'd just have to make sure I tell Sora about it._ "Sora… doesn't have anyone that she could… _do it with naturally_ , so to speak, so we would probably have to do it artificially..." I explained and scratched my cheek as I averted my gaze from Tomoya. "But… To my knowledge, in order for some to ' _qualify_ ' for artificial insemination back home in Japan… you have to be _married_."

"...I see. And since Sora isn't married to anyone..." Tomoya said quietly as he brought a hand to his chin. "You have… quite a complicated situation in your hands. How are you planning on solving it?" As Tomoya finished, Ushio tugged on his sleeve, and he noticed that he had stopped pushing the swing. "Oh, sorry Ushio. I got caught up talking with Haruka." Ushio pouted at her father, but accepted the apology once Tomoya began to push the swing again to boost Ushio.

"I'm… not really sure. I mean… one way would be to have Sora marry someone, then have her divorce them later, but… I don't know if Sora would be okay with that, and… to be honest, the idea doesn't sit well with me either. If… If it was possible..." I paused for a moment to think over my words carefully. "...I would be… _okay_ with _marrying_ Sora, if it meant that she could have a child. A-artificially, of course." Tomoya's eyes widened a little at my statement, but his expression remained largely the same. "Sora… is my precious sister, and the most important person for me in the world. I would… do anything for her." Tomoya stayed quiet for a few seconds as he contemplated my words. _I hope I didn't say too much. But… Tomoya-san understands our situation. What I said… is just a logical conclusion… right?_

"Hmm… I get you, Haruka. I don't have any siblings myself, but… Kyou has a twin sister, and I know they would do anything for each other, so I understand you. As for marrying… That is a difficult one, definitely. If I wasn't already married to Kyou, I would volunteer for it, if just to get Sora the rights for artificial insemination… Do you not have any close, trustworthy friends for this?" Ryouhei's face briefly appeared in my head, but I simply shook my head in response to Tomoya's question. _Ryouhei was a good friend, but he's not the kind of person who would go along with a scheme like this. Besides, this is all just to mask mine and Sora's relationship, anyway._ "Then… I can't really help you. I know first cousins are allowed to marry back home, but I don't know about siblings… Say… Mikami-san is a lawyer, isn't he? Why don't you ask him about the legal side of this?" _Mikami-san… I hadn't even thought of that! But…_

"You're right, although… I don't think it's a good idea for me to walk up to him and ask if marrying one's sibling is legal or not, since… well, you know." I said and let out an awkward laugh, while Tomoya scratched his cheek in embarrassment. _Still… Mikami-san could be invaluable for information when it comes to this._ _He might know of some…_ loopholes _in the law._

"A-ah, right… Yeah, maybe you shouldn't do that. Then again… I get the feeling that if you explained the situation to him, he might be able to help." I gave Tomoya a small nod accompanied by a smile as a response, but didn't say anything back to him. _Tomoya-san really is a nice person. He's helpful and supportive, despite the fact that we haven't even known each other for a week. If Sora and I can get him to accept our relationship..._

"Papa." Ushio's voice pulled our attention to the little girl, and Tomoya stopped the swing. "I'm tired of the swing." She continued and then pointed a finger at the nearby slide. "I want to go on that."

"Oh, sure thing, Ushio." Tomoya said to his daughter and lifted her off the swing and onto the ground. After dusting herself off and glancing towards me, she began to make her way to the slide, with Tomoya following behind. I stretched and stood up from my seat, making my way to the slide as well.

"Papa, catch me." Ushio said from the top of the slide, and Tomoya made his way to the end of the slide, spreading his arms to ready himself.

"Come on, Ushio!" Tomoya said, and the little girl slid down, landing in her father's arms. "Was that fun?" Tomoya asked, and Ushio nodded to him, before starting to make her way to the top of the slide again. Once again, I found myself smiling at the scene. As I watched the two of them play, it suddenly dawned on me that I didn't really know much about Tomoya, or his family. I know Ushio is the daughter of his late wife, and he married Kyou recently after she brought him out of his depression, but… that's about it. _Apart from the first conversation we had back in Harri's SUV on Saturday, we haven't really talked about_ them _, with mostly it being_ us _telling about our past._

"Say, Tomoya-san..." I began as Ushio climbed up the stairs to the slide for the fifth time, and Tomoya turned to look at me. "You told us about your late wife, but I don't actually know that much about you, other than what I learned from the initial conversation we had in the car."

"Huh, I guess you're right." Tomoya said and got into position to catch Ushio again as she came down the slide. "Is there anything in particular you'd like to know?" Ushio glanced between the two of us for a few moments, before climbing up the slide again.

"Well… I don't know, really. Where do you guys live, for example? And I know Kyou works as a kindergarten teacher, but how about you?" I asked as I took a few steps forwards, now standing next to Tomoya.

"We live in Hikarizaka, a city in the western parts of the Tokyo prefecture. It's a relatively small, hilly city, and the place where I've lived my whole life. I work as an electrician there at Hikarizaka Electricity." Tomoya caught Ushio again, who, instead of going back up the slide, simply stood there, her gaze shifting between the two of us. "Tired of playing, Ushio?" Tomoya asked from his daughter, who nodded as a response. "Why don't we go take a walk, then? It'll pass some time before lunch, and I can tell Haruka all about the dark secrets of my past!" Tomoya said with a chuckle, and after glancing towards me, Ushio nodded to her father again.

"Sounds good to me. Though I don't know if I want to hear about your ' _dark past_ ' that much..." I replied to Tomoya, and he burst out laughing at my remark.

After our little exchange, the three of us left the park so we could have a walk around the city. We had already seen plenty of the city in the previous two days of sightseeing, but as our destinations were more or less predetermined, today was the first time we really had a chance to go around freely. Tomoya knew of two adjoined shopping centres not too far from where we were, so we decided to head there first. On the way there, Tomoya told me a little about his past. His wife's death wasn't the only bit of tragedy in his life, as his mother had died when he was very young, and his father had eventually succumbed to alcoholism due to this. By his teenage years, he had grown very estranged from his father, and his life was overall very dull – until he met Nagisa. She acted as a "conduit" of sorts, through which Tomoya got to know other girls, and experience many things with them.

By the time he finished his brief explanation of everything, we had arrived at the shopping centres. The two of them were adjoined, but counted as two separate shopping centres, with the older one of the two being named after the Northern Lights. At least, that's what Tomoya heard from Harri. After crossing the street, we entered the newer shopping centre, called "Rinteenkulma", from the corner of the street. It was only a little past ten in the morning, so there weren't that many people around, and the shops were just opening for the day. As we entered, a few things caught my eye. Almost right in front of us, there was a long escalator leading down to a floor below us, with seemingly more stores and what looked like restaurants down below. The first store that we saw was right next to a large window, – from which one could see out into the street – and at it seemed to be a _game store_.

"This place looks pretty cool." I said out loud as we ascended the stairs to the left of the escalator, with a jewellery store of some kind to our left, and the game store on the opposite side of it.

"Yeah, it does. Hey, why don't we check out the game store first, since it's right here?" Tomoya said, and I nodded to him as an answer. As we made our way to the store, I glanced towards the large hallway that made up the "core" of the shopping centre. The ceiling was painted lo look like a beautiful, blue sky, and pillars that looked like they were made of marble (which I doubted they were) – as if pulled straight out the Parthenon – lined the sides of the hallway. _They've really made this place stand out…_

"Papa." I didn't even realize that I had stopped to marvel at the sight before me, until Ushio's voice brought me back to reality. I turned around to see Tomoya a few steps ahead of me, with Ushio pulling on her father's sleeve and pointing towards a store next to the game store. "Can we go see the animals?" Ushio said, and I shifted my gaze to where she was pointing – a store called _Faunatar_. Inside, I could see shelves full of various items associated with pets, and taking care of them, while one wall was full of fish tanks. _A pet store? I kind of want to go and have a look, too._

"Huh? The animals?" Tomoya said as he turned away from the game store, first to look at his daughter, then at the pet store. "Ah, I see. Well, sure, why not." Tomoya then said and looked towards me, as if looking for my approval.

"I don't mind. To be honest, I'm a little interested myself." I said to Tomoya with a small smile and scratched my cheek, while Tomoya let out a sigh.

"Alright! Time to take the two kids with me to a pet store! Let's go!" Tomoya said loudly and began to march towards the store, and Ushio mimicked her father, resulting in the pair getting some looks of amusement from the store clerk in the pet store. Even I found myself smiling at the two of them, despite the fact that Tomoya had just insinuated that I was a kid. _Well, it's not like he meant it. While I might be underage, I'm nowhere near being a 'kid'._ I thought and sighed as I followed to the two them inside the store.

As soon as we got inside, Ushio let go of his father's hand and ran over to the fish tanks, looking at all the tropical fish in them with her eyes full of wonder. Tomoya and I followed the little girl as she moved from tank to tank, with Tomoya having to lift the girl up so she could look into the tanks that were higher up. As I had already noticed, watching the two of them was soothing, and the innocence of a child that Ushio displayed brought a smile to my face.

Apart from fish, the pet store also had various other pets for sale, such as bunnies, guinea pigs, birds, and small reptiles. While Tomoya was attempting to have a debate with a parrot (which went rather poorly, given the language barrier), Ushio and I were observing the guinea pigs as they ran around chasing each other. When Ushio pressed her face against the glass, one of the small rodents came up to the glass and began to sniff it, which caused Ushio to quickly jerk her head backwards, bumping into my leg in the process. I let out a light chuckle as she looked up at me while rubbing the back of her head, her cheeks slightly flushed from embarrassment.

"Should we head on now? I want to go and see the other stores in this place, especially the jewellery ones." Tomoya said as he walked up to the two of us, then leaned a little closer to me. " _I want to see if I can find something nice for Kyou._ " He whispered to me, then looked towards Ushio, who was glancing between her father and the bunnies with a pleading look on her face. "We can always come back here later, Ushio. The bunnies won't go anywhere." Ushio gave one last look at the bunnies, then walked up to the glass.

" _Bye bye_. I'll be back, okay?" Ushio said to the bunnies and gave them a little wave, then walked to his father's side and held his hand. I looked at Tomoya, and our eyes met as we shared a small chuckle, before we left the pet store.

Our next stop was the one we initially wanted to go to: the game store. It was relatively small, but the shelves were chock-full of different games, with entire shelves dedicated to games for Microsoft's, Sony's and Nintendo's home consoles. In one of the corners, we could also spot a glass cabinet full of various board games, and the counter had a small shelf full of MTG card booster packs. Ushio went straight to a shelf full of action figures, mugs and other collector's items from various franchises. Overall, the store was quite impressive, though both mine and Tomoya's attention seemed to be drawn to the large advertisement for Nintendo's new handheld console, released in Japan earlier this year just a few weeks after mine and Sora's birthday. _And massively long before our parents' accident..._

" _The 3DS…_ I was never really one for handhelds, but damn, that looks awesome." Tomoya said as he began to scan the shelf for all the different games currently available for the system.

"I'm pretty much in the same boat, then. I was never really that into games, but they seem like something that would be right up Sora's alley… In fact… I think I remember her talking about this very console near the end of last year." I said as I picked up the box for the console from the shelf. _Quite expensive, even after its price was dropped less than a month ago._

"You thinking of buying it?" Tomoya asked as Ushio made her way to us, taking hold of her father's free hand.

"Hmm… I don't think so. Not yet, at least. I don't have much money with me right now, and I would probably prefer to buy it back home. After all, if I buy it here, the system language _won't_ be Japanese, and Sora isn't as good with English as I am."

"Ah, I see. Yeah, I get that. I might hold off for now as well." Tomoya said and glanced around, his gaze landing on the jewellery store further down the hallway. "Say, why don't we go there next?" Tomoya said and pointed towards the store.

"Hm? Isn't that one just across from us closer, though?" I asked and pointed at the jewellery store we walked past as we entered the shopping centre.

"Well, it is, but…" Tomoya began and rubbed the back of his neck. "I had a look at the prices as we passed by, and they're a little out of my budget..." Tomoya let out a little awkward laugh, while Uship gazed up at her father with a curious expression on her face.

"Oh…" I joined in with Tomoya's awkward laugh for a few moments, then cleared my throat. "Well, let's go, then. If that place is any cheaper, I might see if there's anything there that Sora would like." I said, and Tomoya nodded to me as we began to make our way down the hallway to the jewellery store.

The store was significantly smaller than the one we had passed by earlier, but the quality of the jewellery was as good as the glimpse I had gotten from the previous one. This store was called either " _Taigakoru_ ", or " _Yaigakoru_ " (I wasn't sure, since the first letter in the store's logo looked like both a "T" and a "Y" to me, but I blame the confusing font), and all the jewellery seemed to be local in both terms of theme and creation. The jewellery was produced locally, and the motifs were all centered around the culture and nature of Lapland. As we browsed the small store, the store clerk told us various things about their jewellery, – in English, of course – and Tomoya noted to me that this store was indeed cheaper than the previous one. After a few minutes of browsing, and some recommendations from the clerk, Tomoya decided to buy a beautiful, silver necklace with a snowflake motif. Initially, I hadn't had any plans to buy anything, but after seeing how cheap some of the jewellery was, even I found myself looking for something nice for Sora.

"Haruka." Tomoya's voice came from my right, and I turned to face him as he held the wrapped-up jewellery box in his hands. "I'll go and see if that ice cream place is open yet, then come back to you here, okay?" Tomoya said and pointed to something behind him with his thumb. As I peeked past him, I saw a logo with the text " _Spice Ice_ " written on it above a large counter a little way away from us.

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll be right with you, as I don't intend on buying anything yet." I replied to him, and with a nod, Tomoya left with his daughter, leaving me alone with the store clerk.

" _See something you like, young man?_ " The clerk asked me in English after Tomoya left.

" _Ah, I'm mostly just browsing. I don't have much money with me at the moment._ " I replied to her.

" _Oh, I see. Well, if you find something you want to buy, you can reserve it, then come and buy it at a later date. You can reserve a piece of jewellery for one week at a time._ " The clerk explained to me.

" _Really?_ " I asked, and she gave me a nod as an answer. " _Then… I guess I could see about reserving something, in case I have enough money for it..._ " I turned back to look at the various bits of jewellery on display. _If I can find something that Sora would like…_

" _What kind of jewellery would you be looking for, and for whom?_ "

" _Well…_ _It would be for my..._ " I glanced towards the direction where Tomoya went, and could spot him in the distance with Ushio. " _...Significant other._ " The clerk smiled at me as I paused for a brief moment before continuing. " _Earrings are out of the question… Maybe a ring? Or a necklace?_ "

" _Of course. What type of person is she, if you don't mind me asking?_ " The clerk asked as she opened up the display case.

" _Sora…_ _she is… a quiet girl. Fragile, but beautiful, and with a feisty personality underneath her quietness. But… she does care for those close to her, even though they aren't numerous. Oh, and her name means 'Sky' in English, so if you can figure out something from that..._ " The clerk brought a hand to her chin and thought for a few moments, then scanned through the display case, before settling on a piece of jewellery.

" _I think this might suit her, what do you think?_ " The clerk asked as she lifted the item for me to inspect closely, along with a piece of paper describing the piece of jewellery and its meaning.

"Yes… _this is perfect! Thank you. So, can I reserve it now?_ " I asked and handed the items back to the clerk.

" _Yes, you can. What name would you like to reserve it under?_ " The clerk asked as she took the piece of jewellery and placed it inside a small box, – not unlike the one Tomoya was carrying – which she then placed on the counter as she walked behind it.

"Kasugano Haruka _, please. Oh, Kasugano is my last name, by the way._ "

" _Yes…_ _Japanese, right?_ " The clerk asked as she wrote down my name on a piece of paper, and I nodded to her as an answer. " _I thought I recognized the language you were speaking with your friend. And, yes, I am aware of your custom of using last names first._ " She said to me with a smile, then moved the box from the counter to underneath it. " _Your reservation will be valid for a week, so be sure to come and purchase this by then! You wouldn't want to make your girlfriend unhappy, now would you?_ "

" _Of course. Thank you, and see you again!_ " I bid my farewell to the clerk, and began to make my way to Tomoya, when I could suddenly feel my phone ringing. Taking it out of my pocket, I saw that the caller was Sora. _Sora? Has something happened?_ I quickly picked up the call and brought the phone to my ear. "Hey, Sora. What's up?"

"Haru!" Sora's voice came from the speaker, and it made me jump a little. "Miura-san, she..." Sora trailed off as she mumbled something that I couldn't hear clearly.

"Miura-san? What about her?" I asked Sora as I walked up to Tomoya and Ushio.

"Miura-san… _knows about our relationship_."

* * *

 **AN: And that's done! Once again, apologies for the lateness of this chapter. I had intended for this to be out way earlier, but stuff happened, such as my friend gifting me Nier:Automata, so I've been playing that recently. But, I promise I'll get a grip on myself for the next chapter, in which I get to write some interactions between the twins and a character who has appeared a couple of times, and who has been mentioned, but hasn't gotten the spotlight like the other side characters have so far. Until then, cheerio!**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Hello and welcome back! As it turns out, I didn't get that much of a grip on myself, as this chapter will be out later than I intended for it to. However, my other two stories are getting closer to their respective conclusions with each chapter, which means more time for me to work on this story. I don't plan on ending this any time soon, but what I am planning on already… is a sequel! Of course, that sequel is a long way away, but it's good to start planning in advance. The sequel will most likely be about the time when the twins return to Japan, but, again, that will be a while away. In any case, what I'm saying is that this story is far from being over.**

 **Apart from that, I must once again thank you for all the support you've given me relating to this story. As I've said before, reading all your reviews brings a smile to my face, and I appreciate all the feedback you lot give me, be it constructive criticism about the story, pointing out typos (relating to which I am planning on going through all my stories at some point to fix all of them), or simply kind words.**

 **Now, without further ado, let's return to the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 11 – Fire Queen Melts the Ice**

"So, what's this about?" I asked the blonde girl sitting across the table from Sora and I, then glanced around the room briefly, but only saw a few other people at the lobby bar of the hotel. _At a quick glance, none of them are Japanese, so our conversation should be at least moderately private. But… that doesn't guarantee that it will stay that way._

"Well, you two should already know." The girl replied as she stirred her coffee with a spoon, then took a sip. "Ugh, so bitter. Where's Hikio and his cans of MAX when you need him..." She then muttered and made a disgusted face, but kept stirring the coffee.

I looked towards Sora, who was sitting quietly next to me, her face looking much healthier than earlier this morning. Sora's eyes met mine briefly, but she stayed silent and fixated her gaze on the blonde girl opposite to us. I let out a sigh and looked at the girl as well, as she was calling out to an employee, apparently wanting more sugar in her drink. We watched in silence as she seemingly forgot about our existence and followed the employee back to the counter, where she put three cubes of sugar into her coffee as the employee looked at her in horror. _I kind of relate with him… That has to be_ too _sweet…_ I thought as the blonde girl made her way back to the table with us, stirring her coffee with even more fervour than before.

"Hmm… Better, but still not as good as MAX..." The girl said quietly as she sipped her drink, then finally seemed to notice our presence again. "Hm? What are you two staring at me for? Is there something on my face?"

"Sorry, Miura-san." I apologized to the blonde and glanced towards Sora again before continuing, but her gaze was fixated on Miura herself. "Just that… Well, as I already asked, what's this all about, calling us to meet you here all of a sudden?" I asked and gestured to the rest of the room with my hands. _What Sora told me was…_ worrying…

"And, as _I_ already said, you two should know. Unless your sister didn't tell you anything." Miura said and spared a glance towards Sora, but returned her gaze to me quickly."In short, I… _peacefully coerced_ Hikio into telling me some things after he slipped something… _interesting_ about you two." _How do you 'peacefully coerce' someone? Isn't the whole point of coercing someone that it_ isn't _peaceful…_

"What did he say?" Sora, who had been quiet up until now, suddenly spoke. _She told me in the phone call that Miura-san had been looking for me, and wanted to talk to me about this very thing, but I guess she didn't tell Sora anything yet._

"Well..." Miura glanced around the room, as if confirming that we wouldn't be eavesdropped on. _At least she has some decency, then._ "I was like, talking with Hikio about stuff, and he said ' _At_ _least the situation with our relationship isn't as bad as what the Kasuganos have going on_ ', or something like that. So I like, got curious, and made Hikio tell me about you guys." Miura paused to take a sip of her coffee, and I found myself swallowing. _So she does know… But… I can't help but wonder what they were talking about to bring up something like that… 'Our relationship'… Is Hikigaya…_ cheating _on Yukinoshita-_ _san_ _?_ "Then he like, said something about 'not letting Yuki know', and that he 'promised Haruka to keep it secret'. Classic Hikio, couldn't even keep a simple secret..." Miura muttered as she gazed into the distance for a few moments with a look of reminiscing on her face, which was soon replaced with a small smile.

"Um… So… You came to us because..?" I asked, and Miura seemed to be pulled out of her thoughts as she shook her head lightly and looked back at us.

"Oh, right. Well, I wanted to like, know if he was talking bullshit or not." Miura began to play with a stray strand of her hair, and I mentally noted how truly different she was from Yukinoshita. "So, is it like, true? That you guys are together? _More_ than just as siblings?" I turned to look at Sora, who closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then suddenly latched onto my left arm, pressing herself against me as she opened her eyes again and glared at Miura.

"We are. You have a problem with that?" Miura seemed a little taken aback by Sora's actions, seemingly freezing in place, the strand of hair curled around her index finger slowly unwinding and freeing itself. Multiple seconds passed as the three of us remained unmoving, until Miura blinked twice, then leaned back in her seat.

"That's freaky." Miura said and took another sip from her cup. "Real freaky. So you guys are like, blood-related twins, but also have _that_ kind of relationship?" I slowly nodded to Miura, then raised an eyebrow in question. _Didn't we… just go over that?_ "Huh, I guess Hikio was right then. Things _are_ more complicated for you guys..."

"You didn't answer my question." Sora said as she let go of my arm, crossing her arms as she kept glaring at Miura, who suddenly scowled.

"Hey, I don't really dig your attitude." Miura replied and furrowed her brows. "I guess I _don't_ have a problem with it, but like, what's _your_ problem with me?" Miura also crossed her arms, unintentionally bringing attention to her chest. _Not only is her personality the opposite of Yukinoshita-san's, they're also opposites physically as well…_ Sora glanced towards me and let out a sigh before responding to Miura.

"If I'm being completely honest, my problem with you is _your_ attitude. We haven't interacted much, but you've been arrogant, self-centered and obnoxious, always looking down on me. It pisses me off." Sora said and clicked her tongue, while Miura simply looked at her with a dumbfounded expression. "But, as long as you don't have a problem with Haru and I, then I couldn't care less. Although… I am getting along fine with Yukino-san, and… maybe a small part of me… hopes I could do the same with you. Though, with that attitude of yours… I doubt it." I saw Miura's eye twitch, and after a few seconds of silence, she took a deep breath and shifted her gaze to me, still glaring.

"Who else knows about you two?" Miura asked me, not even looking back at Sora.

"Huh? O-oh, um… Out the people here, only Hikigaya. Yukinoshita-san… _suspected_ it at one point, but… We managed to convince her that our relationship wasn't… _like that_ , and would prefer to keep in that way." Miura brought a hand to her chin and stayed silent for a few moments again.

"You really are freaks..." Miura muttered, then looked at Sora again. "The only other people who have been so _honest_ with me are Hikio and Yukino... _shita_. And honestly, you piss me off a little as well. But like, you're kinda cute, so I think we like, could be friends or something, so I'll… forgive you, I guess. We had a rough start, so like, sorry." Now it was my turn to be surprised, and I could see that Sora was as well. _Well, I didn't expect that. Still… she said she didn't have a problem with us, but…_ "However… You two are still like, freaky. I mean, isn't that like, incest?" _There it is._ I opened my mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming closer to us, as someone walked up to the table from behind us.

"You call them 'freaks', but they have a good reason for being 'freaks', at least in the face of society." A familiar voice said, and all three of us turned to look towards the source, revealing a black-haired boy with his trademark _ahoge_ and dead-looking eyes.

"H-Hikio? What are you doing here? How long have you been here?" Miura asked immediately, her eyes darting around the room. _Did he… arrive just now?_

"Oh, around ever since you were craving for some MAX. By the way, no, I don't have any with me. They don't sell it here, for obvious reasons." Hikigaya replied, then took a seat in the vacant spot to the right of me. "But, back on topic. Sora and Haruka… have their reasons. I don't know everything, but… I know enough to understand. Besides… we both know very well that you can't _choose_ who you fall in love with, Yumi." Miura's eyes widened as Hikigaya finished, and her jaw was left hanging open.

"But, like-" Miura began, but Hikigaya just extended his arm out and pushed his hand towards her to interrupt her, and I was briefly reminded of a specific scene in an old, American Sci-Fi film about humanoid robots with Artificial Intelligence travelling back in time. _I think it was the third movie in the series, but I'm not sure._

"I wasn't finished speaking." Hikigaya said, and I could see a small smirk in the corner of his mouth. "I don't think I have to remind you about the things I've said about human society, do I? The rules and regulations have made the world a rotten place, which resulted in me becoming the person I am." The smirk on Hikigaya's face turned into a self-deprecating smile as he paused for a moment before continuing. "So, since the world and its rules are rotten, why should we follow them? Why should we follow the masses? Isn't individualism a big thing nowadays?"

"Hikio..." Miura interrupted Hikagaya's speech as she massaged her temple with her hand. "What are you trying to say?" Hikigaya flinched, then visibly deflated, before clearing his throat and continuing.

"I was getting to that, Yumi." Hikigaya glanced towards me, then turned his gaze towards Miura, beginning to stare at her intensely. "What I'm trying to say, is that just because society thinks that what Haruka and Sora are doing is wrong, doesn't mean that _we_ should just follow along and think so too. _Love_ is something you can't control, and it's up to the individuals themselves, and no-one else has a right to butt into it. So, we shouldn't judge or condemn Haruka and Sora just because of their relationship with each other. Especially _us_." Hikigaya's words seemed to be effective against Miura, who – after multiple seconds of silently glancing to each of us – let out a sigh.

"Yeah yeah, I get you, Hikio. Sorry, I guess. But, like, I wasn't going to run away screaming, or anything. I mean, yeah, it's kinda freaky, but… I'm kinda curious. You get me?" Miura said to us and took a large swig of her coffee, while I let out a sigh of relief. _That went better than expected._ "Although, Hikio..." Miura spoke again after placing her cup back on the table and shifted her gaze towards the black-haired boy next to me. "...You're quite… _adamant_ about defending their relationship, aren't you? _Do you have something to hide from us? Something relating to Komachi-chan?_ " Miura's voice became _cold_ , sending shivers down my spine, and even Hikigaya flinched as she finished. _That tone of voice… It's like when I first met her on Saturday…_ _Although… I can't help but wonder_ why _she would be asking a question like that from him._

"O-oh, uhh… I-it's not like that. I mean… Sure, I love Komachi and all, but not like… Haruka and Sora love each other." Hikigaya said as he brought up his hands defensively and swallowed, while Miura narrowed her eyes and raised her cup to her lips again. "It's just… I feel like… we're _kindred spirits_ , of a sort. Especially since… They're also people who society looks down upon, and… _doesn't accept_." _Based on w_ _hat little I know about Hikigaya, that explanation… seems plausible. Before he started dating Yukinoshita-san, he was an…_ outcast _, of sorts,_ _and still is, to some degree_ _. But… I can't help but feel that there's… something_ more _to it than just that._

"Hmmm..." Miura continued to stare at Hikigaya, then closed her eyes and placed the cup back onto the table. "Fine, like, whatever. I get you." Miura said and then turned to Sora. "I'll like, keep this secret, but you'll have to satisfy my curiosity a little."

"Oh? Go on then. Just know that I won't go into _too_ much detail, okay?" Sora replied with a smirk as she glanced briefly towards me.

"Okay, so like, do you keep this a secret from everyone? Are we the only people who know? What about your _parents_?" Both Sora and I flinched at the mention of our parents, and I could see Sora direct her gaze downwards. "H-huh? What's with the gloomy looks?" Miura said, and I could hear some concern in her voice.

"It's okay, you don't know, after all." I said with a weak smile as I placed a hand on Sora's shoulder and lightly gripped it. "Our parents… _died_ in an accident… not too long ago. After their deaths, Sora and I moved to the house of our late grandparents, and… _realized_ the feelings we had for each other, I guess." I explained, and Sora placed her own hand on top of mine.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry I brought it up." Miura said quickly and bowed, and I could see Hikigaya smiling a little. _While her attitude could use some work… She does seem to genuinely care about others._ "I… guess they're not a problem, then..." Miura then said quietly and began to play with her hair again as she shot small glances towards us.

"We've… gotten over it." Sora said and raised her gaze again, meeting Miura's eyes with her own. "In a way… It's one of the reasons we're together – and happy – now. And I guess… we also grieve them in our own way." Sora said and a small smile graced her face. "But, to answer your question… Apart from the two of you, there are very few people who know about us. Haru and I… promised each other that we wouldn't care what others thought of us, and planned to act accordingly while we're here, but… Many things have complicated that, and we've had to hide it, which is… not exactly ideal."

"I get you, Sora." Hikigaya said, and we turned to look towards him. "I know how it feels to hide things, and not be open about yourself and your relationships just because society thinks otherwise. I know it very well." As Hikigaya finished, Miura began to glare at him as she slammed her fist down onto the table, causing the three of us to jump. "A-ah, I-I mean… Y-Yuki's parents! S-she's from a very rich family, and her father is a member of the Chiba Diet, so… they… d-don't look kindly to someone like me dating their daughter, ahaha..." Hikigaya quickly added and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, his gaze rapidly shifting between me and Miura, who let out a sigh as she raised her coffee cup up to her lips again. _I… definitely get the feeling that there's something more to this trio than meets the eye…_

"Well, now that you've brought her up..." Miura said after she placed her cup back down again. "You said to keep this quiet from her, right?"

"Yes, she… wasn't as… _cooperative_ or _accepting_ of the mere thought of it as you are, Miura-san. Luckily, with Hikigaya's help, we managed to convince her that she had just made a misunderstanding." I replied to Miura's question. "It would be good if you could keep it a secret from her."

"Oh yeah, I like, totally get that. I mean… I think she could grow to like, _somewhat_ accept it, as long as you give her a good argument, but… I can see her as someone who would like, totally oppose… something like this." Miura replied to us and leaned back in her seat.

"So… Anything else you wanted to know? To 'satisfy your curiosity', as you put it?" I asked, and Miura seemed to perk up a little.

"Oh, yeah. What do you like, do if some other girl tries to like, _woo_ your brother or something? And, by the way, it feels really weird saying that, you know? I thought that stuff like that only existed in the Light Novel crap Hikio reads, but I guess I was wrong."

"Oi, you read that 'crap' too, Yumi. And I do believe that you've also praised some of the works you've read due to my recommendations." Hikigaya replied in a snarky tone with a matching smirk on his face.

"S-shut up, Hikio! Seriously, why do you have to say things like that..." Miura muttered as she crossed her arms and pouted. _This… reminds of the time we ate together with Hikigaya and Yukinoshita-san. Back then, the two of them were so absorbed in their banter they forgot about the two of us._ I glanced towards Sora, who looked back at me, seemingly noticing the same thing I did.

" _Ahem_." Sora cleared her throat loudly to bring the attention of our companions back to us. "To answer your question, Miura-san, I don't let any other girls get close enough to him. And I have enough faith in Haru to know that he won't fall for anyone else." Sora said with a smile and took my hand into hers, interlocking our fingers. Hikigaya let a small smile adorn his face, while Miura gazed at our hands with a melancholic look on her face, occasionally glancing at Hikigaya.

"That's… understandable." Miura said after a good bit of silence, then took a sip of her coffee. "How about the other way around, Haruka? Is it okay if I call you that?" Miura then asked from me.

"Oh, yeah, you can call me Haruka. Haru is fine too." I replied and glanced at Sora, who – after a brief moment of thought – gave me a small nod of approval. "And as for your question… I know Sora wouldn't allow anyone to 'woo' her, so to speak." _Ryouhei already tried… and failed._ "And just like Sora trusts me, I also trust her. We… may be twins, but… we're made for each other." I turned to Sora and smiled to her, while my sister simply looked back at me with her eyes slightly glossed over.

"Haru..." Sora uttered my name quietly as we stared into each other's eyes, losing track of everything around us for a few moments. I suddenly felt the urge to kiss Sora, and if her face slowly closing in on mine was any indication, she felt the same way.

"Alright, lovebirds." Miura's voice brought us back to reality, and we turned back to see the blonde standing up from her seat. "You two are like, cute, I guess, but I can't like, stand seeing others being all lovey-dovey." She then said as she moved away from the table. "I'll head back now, before Yukinoshita gets suspicious, and you should do the same, Hikio."

"Ah, I'll stay behind with Haruka and Sora for a little while." Hikigaya replied to Miura as he glanced at the two of us.

"Hmm… Okay, but… _Don't take too long._ " Miura said to Hikigaya, then turned to face us again. "If you've like, got some time tomorrow, I wanna hang out with you guys, is that okay, Haru, Sora?" _Well, she definitely didn't hesitate in jumping to first names._

"Hopefully I wont be sick tomorrow, then. I guess we'll see you then, _Yumiko_." Sora replied with Miura's first name, which caused the blonde to flinch a little, before she smiled at us.

"Yeah, I'll see you then. Oh, and Hikio, could you like, finish my drink, pretty please? It wasn't as good as I had hoped, even with the added sugar. Thanks a lot!" Miura turned to look at Hikigaya, before waving us off and walking away from the lobby bar.

"Hey, wait! Yumi!" Hikigaya shouted after the girl as he stood up from his seat, but Miura had already left us and didn't look back, so he sat back down with a sigh, eliciting a light chuckle from me.

"Miura-san… seems to be quite a handful." I said after the blonde girl disappeared from sight, while Hikigaya reached out for her coffee cup and peeked into it.

"Both of the girls are, sometimes." Hikigaya replied and took a sip from the cup, and I noted that he didn't seem to mind at all that he was currently sharing an indirect kiss with Miura. "But, Yumi is the easier one of the two to handle. Although… I never expected that I'd hear the Fire Queen _apologize_ to someone else so willingly, and quite a few times, too."

"Yeah, she did seem like someone who wouldn't apologize to others easily… The two of them really are different from each other, huh? Almost polar opposites."

"I guess. At first, the girls were at odds often, but… As they got to know each other better through me, their differences… allowed them to get closer, I think. They certainly like to team up to insult me, that's for sure." Hikigaya peeked into the cup again, then proceeded to take a large swig from it to drink the rest of the coffee at once. _I better wait until he's finished with that…_

"You know, Hikigaya..." I said as the black-haired boy placed the cup back on the table and raised an eyebrow at me in question while I waited for him to swallow the coffee. "I've been thinking… Based on the things you've said – and _slipped out_ on accident – I want to ask… Is there something about your relationship with Yukinoshita-san and Miura-san that you're _keeping secret_ , like the two of us are?" Hikigaya froze in place for a few seconds, before he shifted his gaze to meet mine, then stayed motionless for a while.

"..." Hikigaya averted his gaze from me, then closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "...There is." He said after a long pause. "But… I can't tell you about it, not without the girls' consent, first."

"That's fine. It's just… I felt like there was something… _more_ going on that you let us in on." I said and glanced at Sora, who seemed to want to say something relating to the matter. "We… won't pry. It's you guys' personal life, after all."

"Thanks, Haruka. I'll… talk to the girls about it. I feel like… it would only be fair for you to know, given what we know about you. Although… Yuki will be… _difficult_." Hikigaya replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But, I'll try my best." _He's making it sound very difficult to convince the girls to tell us about their relationships with each other…_

"It's fine if you don't succeed, but thanks anyway." I replied to Hikigaya with a smile, while he simply nodded as an answer, then glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Well, I'd better get going. I'll… see you around." Hikigaya said as he stood up from his seat.

"Yeah, see you." I said to him and raised a hand as Hikigaya began to make his way back upstairs, and he lazily raised one of his hands on the way, but didn't turn to look at us. I watched as he disappeared from sight, then turned to Sora, who suddenly leaned forwards against me. "Sora..? What's wrong?" I asked as I wrapped my arms around my sister, who looked up at me with a relieved, but somewhat fearful expression.

"Haru… I… I was so _scared_." Sora said as she buried her face into my chest, and I began to stroke her head reassuringly. "When Miura-san first asked about my relationship with you earlier this morning… I felt my heart drop. I-I was saved in that situation by my sickness coming back, but… Then she told me she wanted to talk with both of us, and I… I was just so _afraid_ that she…" I used my hands to cup Sora's face and lifted her head up so her eyes met my gaze.

"It's okay, Sora. Everything went well, didn't it?" Sora wiped her eyes with her sleeve and gave me a small nod as an answer. "No need to worry about any more, then. Miura-san seems more… _open-minded_ to things like this when compared to Yukinoshita-san, and… well, you heard her. She's okay with us." I smiled at Sora, and she returned the smile to me as she pressed her forehead against mine. I could feel the gazes of some of the staff on us, but I didn't care. Even if they knew we were siblings, they would just see a brother comforting his sister, nothing more. _The only difference is that that very sister also happens to be my lover… And I wouldn't have it any other way._ I wrapped my arms back around Sora and embraced her, and Sora returned the gesture by hugging me back tightly. We stayed together, embracing each other for possibly minutes, but what felt like hours to us. And at that moment, I knew more than ever, that this was where I belonged. Together with Sora, as close to her as physically possible.

"Actually, Haru..." Sora suddenly began in the midst of our little cuddling session, and I found myself – reluctantly – pulling away from her a bit so I could see her face. "I talked with Kyou-san, and I think… m-my sickness might have been..."

" _Ah, there you two are!_ " Sora was interrupted by a familiar voice speaking in English coming from behind us, and I turned my head towards the source to see Harri walking up to us. " _Sorry, did I interrupt something?_ " Harri asked as he stopped just next to us.

" _Oh, no, you didn't, Harri. Sora just needed some cuddling, that's all, since she's been a little sickly today._ " I replied to Harri in English. _I wonder what she was going to say about it, though._ " _But, were you looking for us, Harri?_ "

" _Well, I guess I was. Kyou told me about Sora being sick this morning, and I ran into Hikigaya on the way down, who told me that you two were here at the bar._ " Harri replied and took a seat opposite to us, sitting in the seat that Miura had occupied not too long ago. " _How are you feeling now, Sora?_ " Harri shifted his gaze to my sister, who glanced towards me before answering, the irritation that our little 'moment' was interrupted clear on her face.

" _I'm fine, now. I was sick when I woke up, but that's it._ " Sora replied, and it only now occurred to me that this was one of the first times she had actually spoken with Harri, rather than just listening to me talking with him.

" _That's good. Still, you should lie down, at least for today, just in case. What have you two been up to today, anyway? Apart from resting, in Sora's case._ " I looked towards Sora, who simply shrugged at me and began to absent-mindedly stare off into the distance. _Guess I'll be doing the explaining, then…_

" _Well, after I left Sora with Kyou-_ _san_ _, I went out with Tomoya-_ _san_ _and his daughter, Ushio. We visited the big shopping centre, the one that has two of them adjoined._ " Harri nodded to me, seemingly knowing what I was talking about. " _After spending a bit of time there, we were asked by Miura-san to meet us here._ _She just left us not too long ago, which brings us to this moment._ "

" _Is Tomoya still out? I only saw his wife upstairs._ "

" _He stayed behind with Ushio after Sora called me and told me that Miura-san wanted to meet us. I should probably call and ask him if he's still there, or if he's going to return to the hotel, given that it's almost lunchtime._ " I replied, and Harri gave me another nod accompanied by a smile.

" _It's good that the two of you are getting along so well with everyone. Hideki told me you two were good kids, but I had my worries that you might not be able to integrate into our little group._ " Sora seemed to regain her interest in our conversation upon hearing Hideki's name, as she turned her gaze back to Harri.

" _Now that you've mentioned him… How did you and Hideki become acquaintanted, if you don't mind me asking._ " Harri turned his gaze upwards a little and began to stroke his goatee, becoming absorbed in his thoughts for a few moments.

" _How I met Hideki… It was a long time ago, that's for sure. I think he came here on vacation, and we met each other through that. Since both of us were outgoing, extroverted people, we really hit it off and became friends quickly. I remember Hideki saying that he absolutely loved Finland, and what do you know, the next time I meet him he's moved here for good._ " Harri told us, then shifted his gaze back to us as he leaned back in his chair. " _How about you two? Hideki told me that he knew your parents, but that's about it._ "

" _Well… I think that's all there really is to it._ _Hideki was quite close with our parents, and was more than willing to help us once I contacted him about our trip here._ _We have gotten to know him better during our time here, though._ "

"Hmmm… _I see. Well, it's good that you're making some friends closer to your age, as well._ " Harri said and nodded to himself, then glanced at his watch. " _Oh, I'd better get going. I was only really looking for you to check on you guys. Tomorrow will be a 'day off' for you as well, but we'll be meeting again the day after for some activities._ " Harri said as he stood up, and I nodded to him. " _Hopefully Sora will feel better by then. But, I'll take my leave now. See you around!_ "

" _Yeah, see you!_ " I replied to Harri and raised a hand as he made his way to the front entrance of the Hotel.

"What did he say about Hideki?" Sora asked after we watched Harri leave the hotel, and I turned to face her expecting a scowl, but being met with a neutral face instead.

"Nothing much, just how they became friends after I asked him about it. But, what were you going to say before Harri arrived? Something about your sickness?" Sora flinched a little at my question, and bit her lip as she averted her gaze from me. _What's with that reaction? Don't tell me it's something serious..._

"That? Well..." Sora said after a few moments of silence. "I-its wasn't anything important. What matters is that I'm feeling much better now. And weren't you going to call Tomoya-san?" I kept my gaze on Sora for a few moments, then let out a small sigh.

"Alright, if you say so." I said and took out my phone. "But, if anything serious comes up, please tell me, okay?"

"Of course I'll tell you, Haru." Sora said and smiled at me, and I found myself smiling back at her. I gave Sora a quick pat on the head, eliciting a slight pout – followed by a smile – from the girl, before I dialled Tomoya's number. _I kind of left him with Ushio, but if Sora is really feeling better now, we could hang out with all four of us. Or five, if we get Kyou to come with us._ _I think she'd like that._ After a few seconds of beeping, Tomoya answered the call, but I was absorbed in my own thoughts as I gazed at Sora, so I didn't register Tomoya answering. _Being together with them…_

 _I_ _t really feels like we have a family again._

* * *

"Sora! Haru! Over here!" I turned around and saw Miura standing up as she waved at us from the distance, and I could spot two heads of black hair sitting down next to her.

"Coming!" Haru replied to the blonde, then turned to me. "Are you okay, Sora?"

"You asked that about five minutes ago, and the answer is still the same. Let's go." I replied to Haru, then began to make my way over to the table where Miura, Hikigaya and Yukino were sitting down at, and Haru followed after me.

It was a Wednesday afternoon, and we had just arrived at a cafe known as " _Coffee House_ " at the center of town, near a plaza and another shopping centre. After we met up with Miura yesterday, she requested to spend some time with us, with Hikigaya and Yukino joining us. Just like yesterday, I felt sick when waking up, but didn't throw up this time. After a few hours of laying down, the feeling went away, though Haru was still worried about me. I was a little worried about the fact that Yukino was joining us, given that she still believed the relationship between Haru and I was that of normal siblings, but it would have probably been more suspicious to leave her out of this. And, unfortunately, while Hikigaya and Miura more or less accepted us, Yukino being present also meant that we couldn't act like lovers. _Hmph, why couldn't Hikigaya-san date Miura-san instead of Yukino-san… It would make this whole thing easier for us…_ I found myself thinking as we made our way to the table where out companions were waiting.

"Good afternoon, Sora-san, Kasugano-kun." Yukino said politely with a small smile as we took our seats opposite to the three of them, with Miura in front of me, Hikigaya to the left of her in front of Haru, and Yukino on the other side of Hikigaya, leaving him sandwiched between the two girls.

"Yo." Hikigaya's greeting was the polar opposite of Yukino's, though it was accompanied by a slightly raised hand.

"Hey! Did you three wait long?" Haru asked from the trio, who shook their heads in response. "Sora had some trouble walking this far, so it took a little longer for us to walk to here from the hotel. "

"Oh, really? Are okay, Sora?" Miura asked the same question from me that Haru had been asking pretty much the whole day. _I like it when he's concerned for me, but… He worries about me too much, and not enough about himself._

"I'm fine, Miura-san. I'm just… not that strong physically, so even a short walk can be taxing." I replied to her.

"Ah, I see. But, like, you can call me Yumiko, since we like, became properly acquainted yesterday." Miura said to me with a smile, while Yukino looked at our exchange with intrigue.

"Right… _Yumiko-san_."

"Hmm… That's better, but… You could like, drop the honorifics, you know? Anyway, now that we're like, all here, should we go order some drinks?" Yumiko said and gestured to behind her, where the counter was located. I glanced at Haru, who gave me a smile, and I nodded to Yumiko as an answer.

"Sounds like a good idea. Come, Hachi, let's go." Yukino said as she stood up, pulling Hikigaya with her. I happened to look at Yumiko, and saw a brief scowl appear on her face, before she turned away and walked after the pair.

Haru and I stood up as well and followed after the three of them. Yukino and Yumiko walked up to the counter and scanned through the various pastries and sandwiches on display, while Hikigaya gazed up at the menu above the counter. Yumiko – being the more extroverted one out of the two girls – gestured for me to come over to her and choose what I wanted to have along with my drink, giving me various suggestions based on her own preferences, while Yukino pinched the bridge of her nose and lightly scolded Yumiko, telling her that I should be making the decision myself. Seeing the girls like this brought a smile to my face. _They_ _really are_ _quite different from each other… But I guess that's how they became friends, just like Hikigaya-san told us yesterday._ I thought and glanced towards Hikigaya, seeing that Haru was stood next to him. I saw Haru whisper something to Hikigaya, who glanced in our direction, then whispered something back to Haru. _I wonder what they're talking about…_

"Sora-san." Yukino's voice made me turn back around to face the girls, and I saw that she was pointing at a particular pastry in the display case. "Don't you think that this is… _cute_?" I shifted my gaze over to what Yukino was pointing at, and was met with what looked like a muffin of sorts, but with a stylized cat made in frosting on top of it. _Um… what?_ I looked back at Yukino, who was gazing at me, her expression stiff as she awaited my answer, then looked towards Yumiko and raised an eyebrow, but all I got in response from the blonde was a small sigh.

"Uh… I guess? It's… just a cat, though, isn't it?" I replied, and now it was Yukino's turn to sigh.

"I'll let you off this time, but I won't be so lenient when the next time comes." Yukino said as she massaged her temple. "Cats are wonderful animals, and the frosting on this pastry perfectly captures both the cute, and cunning aspects of cats. The depiction is so expertly done that I simply _must_ give applause to whoever has created this." Yukino proudly exclaimed, all the while opening up the display case and placing the pastry in question onto her plate.

"Are you… for real?" I found myself quietly asking, completely dumbfounded by Yukino's sudden exclamation, while the raven-haired girl in front of me simply tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"She… gets like that whenever she seems something cat-related, or the Destinyland character Ginnie the Grue..." Yumiko said to me with an exasperated look on her face. "You should see how she acts around _real_ cats..." _'_ _Ginnie the Grue'? That's… a character from some children's show, right?_ I looked at Yumiko, then turned back to Yukino, and couldn't hold it in any more, bursting out laughing.

"Haaaaah… That's… so funny..." I managed to say as I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye after my laughing fit that brought the attention of everyone in the cafe to us. "Sorry, Yukino-san. I didn't mean to laugh at you, it's just… You're so _elegant_ and _mature_ , so the idea of you liking cute cats is just… so contrary." I said and smiled at Yukino, who now had a light blush on her cheeks.

"A-ah, no, I'm sorry. I got a little carried away." Yukino quickly apologized, then cleared her throat as Yumiko let out a little giggle. "Right, shall we continue with our orders?"

Yumiko and I nodded to her, and the three of us proceeded to order our drinks. I didn't really know what half of the things on the menu were, so I decided to order a simple cappuccino, along with a cinnamon roll. Yukino bought a standard coffee to go with her cat-muffin, and Yumiko went all-out with a caramel latte with extra sugar, and a slice of strawberry cake. After the three of us, Hikigaya bought a caramel latte just like Yumiko, but opted for a sandwich instead of a pastry. Haru ordered an iced frappé, but nothing to go with it. As we made our way back to our table, I felt many curious stares on us, as we no doubt drew attention.

"So, do you have any plans for today, Miura-san? Since you were the one who invited us." Haru asked as we sat down to enjoy our various beverages.

"Well, not really, no. Just hanging out, shopping, you know, standard stuff." Yumiko replied as she munched on a piece of her cake. "Oh, and like, you can call me Yumiko, too, Haru."

"If you insist, Yumiko-san." Haru replied to the blonde with a small smile.

Time flew by quickly as we made small talk in the cafe, sharing stories of our pasts. While our stories were more or less melancholic, Yumiko and Yukino mostly told us about their High School days, and what Hikigaya had been like back then, much to the chagrin of the boy in question. Despite my "tendency to be antisocial", as Haru would put it, I found myself absorbed in the conversation, and was easily able to contribute to it, and I was able to laugh along with the two girls – as well as join them in throwing light jabs and insults at Hikigaya. One thing that I did notice, was that every now and them, there seemed to be some… _tension_ , or _rivalry_ between the girls – usually when the conversation had something to do with Hikigaya. The black-haired boy managed to divert the conversation in another direction, or resolve the tension every time, though, but I did still find it interesting. _If my theory about Yumiko-san liking Hikigaya-san is correct, it might explain that, but… If Yukino-san knows about her feelings, why would she let Yumiko-san stay around Hikigaya-san? And why would Yumiko-san hang out with them, as she said yesterday that she can't stand seeing couples acting "lovey-dovey"…_ I couldn't help my thoughts wandering, but I quickly banished the thoughts away, not wanting to sour the mood we had, if I accidentally let my thoughts be known.

Before we knew it, we had finished our drinks, and were simply chatting away. After Hikigaya pointed out that we had all finished and should "move on" so we didn't just hog a table for ourselves, Yumiko gallantly lead our group to go shopping in the nearby shopping centre, which held within it multiple different clothing stores, a fast food restaurant, a cinema, and various other miscellaneous stores. I had never been one for "mindless" shopping, and it seemed that everyone else in the group felt the same – apart from Yumiko herself. And since I had never really gone shopping for clothes with other girls, this was a new experience for me, and I – unexpectedly – kinda liked it.

The differences between Yukino and Yumiko became even more evident as we scanned through the various stores, as Yukino focused mostly on the utilitarian and more functional side of the clothes she bought, while Yumiko just bought whatever she thought looked good. Initially, I wasn't going to buy anything, so while I did enjoy looking through the different clothes and even trying some of them on, I left each store empty-handed. In one of the stores, however, Yumiko insisted that I should buy something, to which I objected, saying that Haru and I had to save what little money we had. The blonde surprised me, though, saying that she would be willing to buy whatever I wanted for me. I was hesitant at first, but ended up walking out of the store with a light blue dress skirt that ended just below my knees and a white long-sleeved shirt that – according to Yumiko – matched perfectly with both the skirt, and my hair. That was the first time someone outside of my family had bought me something simply out of the goodness of their heart, and the new sensation made me… _happy_.

Once again, time flew by as a flash, and after spending well over an hour in several different stores in two different shopping centres, we found ourselves sitting at an ice cream bar aptly named "Spice Ice", situated in the central hallway of the shopping centre that Haru had visited with Tomoya yesterday.

"Aahhh… I haven't had that much fun shopping in like, forever." Yumiko said as she stretched in her seat. "How about you, Sora? This was your first time shopping like this, right? Did you have fun?" She then asked as she turned to me.

"I… Well..." I shifted my gaze from her to the bowl of ice cream in front of me. _I… want to say that I didn't enjoy it, given that I don't really like being overly social like that, but… I couldn't lie to them like that._

 _Because – to my own surprise – I actually_ did _enjoy shopping with them. A lot._

"I..." I glanced over at Haru, who was sitting next to Hikigaya, as the two of them were tasked with carrying our shopping bags. Haru didn't seem to notice my gaze, however, as he was talking with Hikigaya, so I turned back to Yumiko and took a deep breath. "I… did kinda… like it… I guess. It was… _fun_." I said to her, my voice trailing off towards the end, while Yumiko just smiled back at me.

"That's good to hear, Sora. I like, had a feeling that you might be a little antisocial, given what I've heard about you, so I'm like, really glad that you had fun with us?" Yumiko said, keeping the smile on her face the entire time, while I raised an eyebrow in question and looked towards Yukino, sitting just to the right of Yumiko. _Heard about me? She hasn't really talked with Haru that much, so…_

"I apologize, Sora-san." Yukino said and bowed to me. "I had told Miura-san about you before you two got to know each other yesterday. And I'm also sorry that… I spoke _ill_ of you… before the whole… _misunderstanding_ was cleared."

"A-ah, you don't have to be sorry. That's… all in the past, right?" I briefly glanced at Yumiko, who seemed to catch onto what we were talking about, and gave me a small nod.

"Yeah, you don't have to like, sweat it, Sora has already forgiven you. And like, I didn't really believe in the whole thing when you like, told me about it. Or _care_ about it, for that matter." Yumiko said as she turned to face Yukino, and I thought I caught a glimpse of her giving me a _wink_ before she did so. "And besides, what does it matter if like, Sora and Haru _were_ in that kind of relationship?" Yukino's eyes widened, and I had no doubt that mine did as well. _What is… Yumiko-san trying to do here?_

"M-Miura-san..? What do you… mean? They're… _siblings_ , and romantic relations between relatives is… _taboo_." Yukino said, glancing towards me.

"Well, I get that, but like, why should _we_ care if something is taboo or not, right?" Yumiko replied to her, putting emphasis on the word ' _we_ '. "Isn't it like, up to each individual to determine what's right or wrong, you know? I might have like, listened to Hikio too much, and his 'not caring about anything' way of thinking might have infected me, but _honestly_ , if there was someone out there dating their sibling, I couldn't really give two shits about it." Yumiko turned to face me again, and smiled brightly at me. "Even if Sora was like, dating her brother, it wouldn't change who she is, and I wouldn't think any less of her." I felt a smile of my own on my face as I gazed into Yumiko's olive green eyes. _Yumiko-san…_

"Don't tell me that..." Yukino spoke up as she looked at the two of us with a slightly _horrified_ expression on her face. "Sora-san is… actually..."

"Hm? What's with the face? This was like, all hypothetical, you know? I'm just saying, I don't think it's something that we should like, judge or anything. And that someone shouldn't be like, looked down on just because of their preference in partner. We aren't like, in the middle ages, or something." Yumiko said, attempting to save my hide. _Yukino-san is a smart girl, but hopefully this will be enough…_

"..." Yukino stayed silent for a few moments, then took a deep breath before answering. "I'm sorry I doubted you, Sora-san. And while I cannot _fully_ agree with Miura-san..." As Yukino shifted her gaze to Yumiko, I inwardly sighed in relief. _I'm glad…_ "...I do kind of understand your statement."

"That's fine. In any case, we should finish our ice cream so we can go do more shopping!" Yumiko shouted and began to rapidly shovel down her own ice cream, while Hikigaya suddenly stood up from his seat.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom real quick." Hikigaya said, and Haru stood up after he had taken a few steps away from us.

"I'll go too." Haru said and turned to me with a smile. "I'll be right back, Sora." I gave Haru a nod, and he headed off with Hikigaya.

After the boys left, the three of us began to make small talk as we ate our ice cream together. As I had noticed before at the cafe, I found it very easy to talk with Yukino and Yumiko, despite the fact that two out of the three of us were more introverted than extroverted. Their conflicting personalities also amused me, but I knew they got along well due to that. And I also felt that _I_ myself also got along with them. As we talked about various things ranging from our studies to amusing stories from our pasts, I noticed many passerbys giving us strange looks, as the sight of three, young Japanese women giggling amongst themselves at pretty much the very centre of the shopping centre was no doubt an unusual sight. Some of the people among these passerbys we did recognize as Japanese tourists, however, who greeted us with smiles, and one elderly couple even came up and said to us how good friends we seemed to be. _Friends… I guess that's what we would seem like to others, huh? But… I've only known them for such a short time, so can I even call them my friends? Do I… even_ know _what true friends are, given that I've been either alone, or with Haru for most of my life…_ I found my thoughts wandering after hearing the couple's comment. But, as I gazed at the forms of the two girls sitting down with me as they talked about the career paths at their University, I found myself smiling. _I may not know what_ true _friends are, but… I do know that these two here are my friends, no matter how long I've known them for._

"Yo." A lazy voice came from behind us, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I turned around to see Hikigaya and Haru returning to us.

"Ara, the stalker has finally made himself known. Here to pray on three innocent young ladies, are we now, Hiki-stalker-kun?" Yukino said in a teasing tone as he saw the black-haired boy approach our table, and Yumiko snickered a little at her remark.

"Hey, words hurt, you know? And if I'm a stalker, what does that make Haruka, then?" Hikigaya said as he stopped just in front of us and pointed towards Haru with his thumb.

"Hmmm… Oh, you mean that handsome, silver-haired fox behind you? Although I get the feeling that he might be more of a silver _hare_ than a fox. Perfect prey for this Wise Wolf, then." Yumiko said and playfully licked her lips, while Haru awkwardly scratched his cheek. While I knew that Yumiko was joking – as she had said before that while she did think Haru was somewhat handsome, she wasn't interested in him – I did feel my mood souring a little, but once I noticed a small, black box in Haru's left hand, that sourness was replaced with curiosity. _He didn't have that with him earlier..._

"Now that you mentioned it… Kasugano-kun does bear some resemblance to a certain travelling merchant… Though your hair is far too blonde for the Wolf Deity of Harvest, Miura-san." Yukino said as she brought a hand to her chin. _What are they talking about?_ "You'd do well as the shepherdess, though."

"Hoo, what would that make you, Yuki? And how about me, or Sora?" Hikigaya asked as he glanced towards me, while I gave Haru a puzzled look. Haru replied with a shrug, and seemingly _hid_ his left hand behind his back as I looked towards him. _You're only making me more curious, Haru…_

"Hmm… I certainly have the looks for the Alchemist chronicler. And you, my dear Hachi, would be the one everyone hates, so... The young fish broker, who gets captured by the charms of the Wolf." I didn't know what Yukino was referencing, but it seemed to get a giggle out of Yumiko, and a displeased look from Hikigaya. "And finally, Sora-san..." Yukino turned to me, then fell silent for a few moments. "...I cannot think of anyone else that would fit her, apart from… the Wise Wolf herself." She then said with a smile, while I raised my eyebrow at her.

"So, I guess that would like, make Sora and Haru the protagonists, right? Brought together by a simple promise that would make them get ever so closer together on their journey together, while the three of us are forever bound to be side characters." Yumiko said, while Yukino just stared blankly at her.

"A-ah, I guess so, yeah..." Yukino said and glanced between Haru and I. I turned to look back at Haru, and saw Hikigaya whisper something to him, and I could hear a little 'oh' sound coming from him.

"Well, let's finish up here then, and continue with the shopping, right, Yumi?" Hikiagaya said and began to make his way back to his seat. "The sooner we get it done, the sooner I can lay back down in my bed in my hotel room.

"Hold it." Yumiko said and grabbed Hikigaya by the arm, eliciting a look of confusion from the black-haired boy. "The two of us like, need to go to the bathroom as well." She then said to him.

"Uh, sure, go ahead. We'll watch your bags." Hikigaya replied and tried to pry Yumiko off himself, but failing to do so.

"Hikio..." Yumiko said and sighed, only adding to the confusion of the young man. "After all this time, and you still can't take a hint. We don't know where the bathroom is, and you're going to take us there!"

"Huh? Wait, but I've just come from there!"

"Then it should be no problem for you to take us there, right?" Yumiko said and stood up. "Right, let's go! Come, Yukinoshita."

"I'm going too?" Yukino asked as she tilted her head, and Yumiko replied with a nod. "Well… How about Sora-san?" She then looked towards me, but I shook my head at her.

"I'm fine. You can go, Haru and I will watch your bags." I replied to her, and Yukino rose up from her seat – somewhat reluctantly.

"Alright, then. Hachi, lead the way." Yukino said and took Hikigaya's other arm, and the trio began to make their way away from us, drawing curious gazes to themselves as they did so, as Hikigaya being seemingly dragged off by two women on both sides was quite a comical sight. After disappearing from sight, Haru came up to me, his hands still behind his back.

"You know, Sora..." Haru began as he looked around, his gaze never quite meeting mine. "You've been… having a lot of fun today. I've never seen you so… _happy_ before. I thought that maybe you wouldn't be able to get along well with Yukinoshita-san and Miura-san, but… It looks like I was wrong." Haru said to me with a smile. "And seeing you happy makes me happy, too, Sora. That's why..." Haru slowly brought his hands out from behind his back, revealing a small, black box with a logo of some sort on it, seemingly made from silver. _This… looks like that one store, just down the hallway… I think… it was a jewellery store…_

"Haru… what… is this?" I lifted my gaze from the box to Haru's eyes. _If… If it really was a jewellery store…_

"Open it, and see for yourself, Sora." Haru said to me, the smile never leaving my face. I gave him a slow nod and swallowed as I reached out towards the small box. I found my heartbeat rising with each passing second as I slowly opened the box, revealing inside of it… a piece of paper.

"...What is this, Haru?" I asked and looked into Haru's eyes again, the disappointment clear in my voice.

"Hm?" Haru looked down, then noticed the piece of paper in the box. "Oh, right! That's the description that she put in there. Just move it out of the way." I let out a small sigh, then did as asked, taking the piece of paper out of the box. Looking at it more closely, it seemed to have English written on it, but I didn't really understand it, so I gave it to Haru. As I looked back into the box, a gasp escaped my mouth and a blush rose to my cheeks.

Inside the small box was a beautiful, silver ring, emblazoned with a masterfully carved depiction of two swans facing each other, their beaks touching, forming a semi-heart shape, in the middle of which a blue gemstone was located. _This… This is… Beautiful…_

"The whooper swan is Finland's national bird." Haru's voice broke me out of my trance, and I gazed up at him as he read through the piece of paper he called the 'description' that I gave to him. "Under its beautiful and elegant outside lies the heart of a feisty, but passionate bird. Once these swans find a mate, they stay together for life, the very embodiment of the saying 'till death do us part'. The silver ring, featuring an expertly cut Finnish Spectrolite, represents eternal matrimony, and the freedom that one has when together with their soulmate, as if one truly was a swan soaring in the skies." As Haru finished, he put the paper away into his pocket and gazed into my eyes as he picked up the ring from its box.

"H-Haru… Is this… what I t-think it is..?" I managed to say. I was shaking, and could feel tears of happiness forming in my eyes. _This… I can't believe this…_

"Well, you can interpret it that, if you want to. Give me your hand, Sora." I lifted my right hand up as it shook like a leaf in the wind, my heartbeat increasing exponentially and my body heating up as Haru gently placed the box onto the table, then took my hand, slowly sliding the ring onto my finger. "Would you look at that. It fits perfectly." Haru said with a smile, and I felt my own growing each second as I gazed at the beautiful ring, all the while Haru gently caressed my hand.

"Haru..." I felt the tears flowing down my face, and I jumped up from my seat, captured Haru in my embrace, and kissed him directly on the lips, unable to hold myself back. Haru was surprised at first, but wrapped his arms around me as well, as neither of us paid no attention to our surroundings, or what other people thought of us. This moment, just the two of us existed, as we embraced, and kissed lovingly. After multiple seconds, or possibly a minute of kissing, we parted, our faces flushed, mine a mess of tears as I still hugged onto Haru tightly. "I'm so happy… I love you so much, Haru..."

"I'm glad, Sora. I love you too." Haru said and pressed his forehead to mine, when suddenly, a thought occurred to me. _This… This is the moment… I have to tell him…_

"Haru." I said and looked deep into my brother's eyes, the same, grey eyes that I had, the very same eyes I loved so much. "About my sudden sickness… I think… it might be _morning sickness_." Haru lifted an eyebrow in confusion, and I felt my cheeks burning up even more at his reaction, but I steeled my resolve and continued. "It means..."

" _It means that I'm pregnant, Haru._ "

* * *

 **AN: And that's done! My plans for this chapter were a little different at first, but I ended up sticking to most of my plans, and I think it turned out splendidly. I also got to stick in another reference, one that I thought was quite appropriate, as Haruka _does_ somewhat resemble a particular travelling merchant I'm sure at least a few of you know ;)**

 **As I said at the beginning, this story is nowhere close to finishing, but I am planning on ideas for the sequel to this story already, so you know that the story of the Kasugano Twins is far from over, and there's plenty of things I have planned for the future!**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, everyone. Summer vacation is here, so there'll be plenty more time for me to write, which (hopefully) means that updates will be more frequent. My other two stories are also nearing their end, so once they finish (hopefully during this vacation) I'll have more time to write this story – and start on my new one. But, There's also plenty of other things I want to do during my vacation, so we'll see how much I actually get to write.**

 **Now, time to get this chapter on the road!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12 – Revelations**

"You… you what?!" I shouted out as I gripped onto Sora's shoulders harder, my voice coming out louder than I had planned, drawing even more attention to the two of us. _Sora… she is…_

"Well… like I said… I might be… _pregnant_." Sora repeated to me. "But… I don't know for sure, yet. Kyou-san told me that being sick in the mornings is a _symptom_ of pregnancy, but… I could just have caught an illness from somewhere." Sora then continued as she fidgeted a little.

"Still… that's… _wonderful_ news, Sora!" I said and hugged onto my sister again. "I didn't expect it to happen this soon, but… That's great!" _I… I get to be a_ father… _I'll need to ask Tomoya-san for some tips…_

"I'm glad that you're happy, Haru. I know that we both… _wanted_ this, but… I couldn't help being a little scared at what you would think about it… And, like I said, I don't know for sure yet." I released Sora from my embrace and trailed my hands down her body, my right hand stopping at her lower stomach while my left hand took hold of her right.

"We'd just have to confirm it with a pregnancy test, right? And if it comes up negative… That just means we have to try harder, no?" I said as I gently caressed Sora's lower abdomen, while my sister simply smirked at me.

"Oh, I'm sure you were planning on doing that anyway, _hentai_." Sora said with a little giggle. "Not that I would have any complaints about it..." She then continued in a lower voice and looked into my eyes, and we found our faces closing in for another kiss, ignoring everyone else around us.

"Yo." a deadbeat voice startled us, and I quickly pulled away from Sora to turn around, meeting Hikigaya's gaze with my own. _They're back already? Don't tell me that… Yukinoshita-san…_ saw _us…_ "Hm? What's wrong, Haruka? You're really pale." Hikigaya asked as he walked up to us and sat down, then glanced behind him. "Oh, right. The girls are still in the bathrooms. I don't mind, but… if you don't want Yuki accidentally walking in on you..." I blinked and looked at Hikigaya again, then released the breath I didn't realize I was holding in.

"Thanks, Hikigaya." I said and turned to look at him, still holding onto Sora's hand. "You got me enough time to give my present to Sora." I said and lifted Sora's hand up so Hikigaya could see the ring, while my sister turned to me with a confused expression.

"Looks good. You didn't tell me though how you're going to explain it to Yuki." Hikigaya replied with a slight smile, while Sora glanced between the two of us, her confusion evident on her face.

"She shouldn't think too much about it if I just say it was a gift for Sora, and I've got you and Yumiko-san on my side, too." I replied, and Hikigaya gave a quick nod as a reply. I turned my gaze back to Sora, now noticing her confusion about our exchange. "Oh, right. We discussed this when we went to the bathroom earlier. Hikigaya was going to get the girls – or at least Yukinoshita-san – to leave us for some privacy, so I could give you the ring. It was a surprise, so I'm sorry for 'scheming behind your back', Sora." I said and used my free hand to ruffle my sister's hair a little, which caused a smile to grow on her face.

"Good thing Yumi's bladder couldn't hold on any longer, then. Saved me the trouble of figuring out something on my own. And, if I'm allowed to commend myself, I'm quite proud of my acting skills. I _can_ actually take a hint, Yumi!" Hikigaya said with pride as I sat down opposite to him, and Sora took the seat next to me. "Oh, and I, uhh… Mentioned _that_ to the girls as well. They're probably discussing it right now." _'That'? Oh, I think I know what he means..._

"You mean… What I asked you about in the cafe?" Hikigaya gave me a nod as an answer, while Sora raised her eyebrow in question, once again confused by what we were talking about.

"If they're willing to talk, you'll find out soon enough, Sora." Hikigaya said to my sister as he noticed her confusion, and she just gave Hikigaya a slow nod as a reply. "What were you guys talking about, by the way? You were being quite loud, Haruka, and I heard something about 'wonderful news'." Hikigaya then asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"Oh, that? Well..." I turned to Sora and leaned closer so I could whisper to her. " _Do we tell him?_ " Sora gave a quick glance towards Hikigaya before responding to me.

" _I don't see any reason not to. As long as he keeps it secret._ " I gave Sora a quick nod and turned back to face Hikigaya.

"Actually… Sora… might be _pregnant_." I said to the black-haired boy sitting across from us, and his dead eyes widened in shock. Hikigaya opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out as his jaw was left hanging.

"It's… not confirmed, though. After talking with Kyou-san yesterday, it occurred to me that the reason I've been sickly might be due to morning sickness..." Sora continued after me.

"R-right..." Hikigaya finally managed to speak, and he averted his gaze from us as he scratched his cheek. "Um… Congratulations, I guess? I don't… really know what I should say, or how I should react in a situation like this… Sorry, I just didn't… _expect_ that the two of you would be… _going that far_."

"Oh, I… guess you wouldn't..." I replied with a little awkward laugh. "But, haven't you… _thought_ about it yourself? You're in a steady relationship with Yukinoshita-san, right?" Hikigaya flinched a little at my question, and I could swear I saw the slightest hint of a blush on his cheeks.

"I… uhh… Well… We have… talked about it, yes. But we use… _contraception_. We are still students, after all, and Yuki doesn't think that we could support a child currently..." Hikigaya explained with a quiet voice, speaking about the subject obviously making him embarrassed. "Not that we're… _opposed_ to the idea, I guess. I'm good with kids myself, always have been. And Yumi is surprisingly good with them as well." Hikigaya paused for a moment, the blush disappearing from his face immediately. "S-so she could be a help too, i-if needed." He then continued after a slight pause. "Anyway, yes, we have thought about it, but… not right now." I nodded to Hikigaya, and looked back at Sora, who had a gloomy look on her face as she gazed into seemingly nothingness. _Sora..?_

"Is… something wrong, Sora?" I asked from my sister, who turned her gaze to me, worry evident in her eyes.

"Supporting the child… Would we… be able to do that? We're getting by with the money Hideki gave us, but… What about when we go back home?" Sora bit her lip as she gazed into my eyes, and I took her hand into mine.

"We'll be fine, Sora." I said and reassuringly tightened my hold on her hand. "I'll figure out something." _I don't know what,_ _though, but I_ will _do something. No, I will do_ everything _for mine and Sora's future together._

"No, Haru." Sora's words surprised me, and I lifted an eyebrow in confusion as my sister simply smiled at me, gently placing her other hand on top of mine. " _We_ will figure out something. You may have done everything for me in the past, Haru, but it's time I start standing together with you, and fully supporting you." It was now Sora's turn to grip onto my hand as she looked into my eyes, her own full of determination. _Sora…_ I found myself leaning closer to my sister, getting ready to kiss her.

"HIIIIIIKIIIIIOOOO!" A loud shout startled us, causing the three of us to jump in surprise as we turned to look towards the source, seeing Yumiko dashing towards us while waving her hand in the air. "Why did you just like, leave us like that?" Yumiko asked from Hikigaya as she slowed down and walked up to the black-haired boy.

"I… agree with… Miura-san..." Another voice said from behind the blonde girl, and I saw Yukinoshita coming up from behind her, panting heavily as she did. "That was… quite rude… of you… Hachi." Yukinoshita stopped just next to Yumiko to catch her breath, leaning onto the other girl for support.

"I only said I'd show you two to the toilets, right? I came back here right away." Hikigaya replied and waved his hand at the two girls rather dismissively. "Besides… I figured you two needed some time alone to… _discuss_ what I spoke to you about briefly." He then continued, and the girls seemed to freeze in place as he finished, directing their gazes downwards for a few moments, before looking at each other and nodding.

"We… did talk about that, yes." Yumiko said and shifted her gaze to the two of us. "...But it's not something we should talk about in public." I saw Hikigaya's eyes widen for a moment as he also looked towards Sora and I. _They're… willing to tell us about it? But…_ _Something they shouldn't talk about in public? On the chance that... someone understands what they're talking about? If this is about the relationship between the three of them… What could be going on?_

"You mean..." Hikigaya began and glanced at Yukinoshita, then continued in a lower tone as he locked his gaze with Yumiko's. "... _You managed to convince Yuki?_ "

"Hachi, I think you'll find that I can hear you very well." Yukinoshita said, causing Hikigaya to flinch. "But, it was actually the other way around. Miura-san was the one who had to be convinced by _me_." _Yumiko-san? Really? I thought Yukinoshita-san would be the tougher one to convince, especially since the whole 'you know about our relationship so it's fair if we get to know about yours' - idea couldn't be used with her like it could be with Yumiko-san…_ I looked at Yumiko with disbelief, while the blonde simply sighed.

"I like, understand the _reasoning_ as to why you're behind the idea, Hikio, but… _You_ should also like, know why I wasn't too happy with the idea at first." Yumiko crossed her arms as she spoke with Hikigaya, then turned to us again. "Right, as I said, we should find some place secluded, away from prying eyes. Then we'll talk about _us_." I turned to look at Sora, who met my gaze with her own, then gave me a shrug as she stood up.

"Let's go, then. I'm eager to hear what you have to say to us." Sora said and picked up her own bags, handing them to me as I stood up.

An awkward silence settled onto us as we gathered our things and left the Shopping Centre behind. Yukinoshita and Yumiko walked a few paces ahead of us, looking for a secluded spot. Hikigaya walked behind the two girls, and occasionally glanced towards Sora and I as he carried their shopping bags. _This atmosphere is really…_ eerie _, if I had to say…_ We made our way through the shopping centre, and came out to the multi-layered parking lot on the south-western part of the shopping centre. After scanning the area, the two girls who were leading us began to climb up to the roof of the parking lot, and the three of us followed. The spiralling metal staircase gave Hikigaya and I some problems, as it was a little difficult to climb up in the limited space with our bags, though Hikigaya definitely had a harder time than I did, as he was carrying both Yukinoshita's and Yumiko's shopping bags. _I know it's common courtesy for the man to carry the bags, but with the way he's carrying_ both _of theirs, and with the way he – and the girls – have been acting, you couldn't really tell which one Hikgaya was dating… Or if he's dating either of them. Yukinoshita-san isn't really one for public displays of affection, after all._ After we got up to the top, we saw Yukinoshita and Yumiko standing still as the looked around. Compared to the layers beneath it, the roof of the parking lot was largely empty, with only about a dozen cars scattered around her and there. The only other people up here with us seemed to be a group of youngsters, who were standing by a car in the most western corner of the parking lot, farthest from us diagonally to the left. I could hear music coming from the car, and some scraps of conversation, though the group of people didn't seem to notice us, or simply didn't care about or presence.

"This will have to do." Yukinoshita said as she turned to us. "We'll go over to the corner there, so we don't disturb anyone coming up here, and it also minimizes the chance of someone who understands Japanese eavesdropping on us." Yukinoshita pointed towards the corner located diagonally to our right, bordering the wall of the shopping centre itself on the right side, another entrance visible directly on our right. _So we could have gone up a level while inside, and we wouldn't have had to climb up that spiral staircase… That is, assuming that Yukinoshita-san and Yumiko-san were aiming to come here right from the start._

"Alright, if this really requires so much privacy..." I said and glanced towards Sora. "We might be seen as a little suspicious, though."

"That will not be a problem. We are tourists, and the only other people up here would not care." Yukinoshita replied, then began to make her way over to the corner, with Yumiko following close behind, while Hikiagaya turned to look at the two of us.

"So… Um..." Hikigaya began as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, his gaze shifting between us and his two female companions. "I… don't know how _much_ the girls are going to tell you guys, but… Be warned. They can be a tad… _extreme_." I raised an eyebrow in question, and saw that Sora had a confused – or perhaps _curious –_ expression on her face as well. "I… You'll see, if they… _go that far_. Just… Don't be alarmed, okay?" I met my gaze with Sora's briefly, then gave Hikigaya a slow nod.

After our brief exchange, the three of us made our way to Yukinoshita and Yumiko, who were glancing around the parking lot once again. Yumiko let out a small sigh and crossed her arms as she kept her gaze firmly glued with mine, and I felt a little intimidated by her. _Hikigaya called her the "Fire Queen", and I think I now know why…_ Yukinoshita seemed much… _calmer_ about the situation, and was gazing up at the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun above as Hikigaya came up to the two girls, and after glancing at the both of them, awkwardly stood in between them.

"So, you wanted to know about Hikigaya-kun's relationships with Miura-san and myself, right?" Yukinoshita asked after a few moments of silence

"That's… right. Due to some of the things Hikigaya said and… _slipped out_ on accident, I… got curious. When I asked him if there was something he was… _not telling us…_ He said there was." I explained and looked at the black-haired boy in front of us, his gaze lowered as if to avoid mine.

"Of course Hikio is to blame for it..." Yumiko muttered under her breath. "Well, it can't be helped. Since Hikio already practically told you, and Yukinoshita managed to _convince_ me that you two have the right to know, – given how close we've gotten – and that you're trustworthy enough..." Yumiko glanced between Sora and I, then continued in a lower tone. "...And given that I… you know." Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow in question, but Yumiko paid no attention to the raven-haired beauty. "Guess there's no point in hiding it." Yumiko turned her gaze to Yukinoshita and nodded to her, and she gave the blonde a slight nod of her own.

"This will… probably sound crazy, but… You have to believe us, okay?" As Yukinoshita spoke, both of the girls suddenly latched onto Hikigaya's arms, causing him to jump a little as he raised his gaze from the ground, a slight blush making its way onto his cheeks. "Hachi… isn't _just_ in a relationship with me. He's in a relationship with… _both of us_." The girls looked at the two of us with serious faces as they held onto one of Hikigaya's arms each. _Wait… really? That's… kinda crazy, as she said… Then again, I'm together with Sora, who is my twin sister, so…_

"For real?" Sora was the first to speak after multiple seconds of silence, and all three of them nodded as an answer. "So, wait, he's two-timing, but you're… both okay with it? What exactly do you mean with 'in a relationship with both of you'?" Sora pointed a finger at Hikigaya, her gaze shifting between the two girls flanking him.

"It's… _complicated_..." Hikigaya said and glanced at both of the girls currently sandwiching him. "There's… quite a long story behind it, one that I will not be going through now. All you need to know, is that I… fell in love with both of them, and it just sort of… went from there." _'I still love both of them'… So_ that's _what Hikigaya meant with it… Quite literally, he is in love with both of them. That's… quite astounding, in fact._

"And as it turns out..." Yukinoshita began as she turned her head towards Hikigaya, beginning to caress his right cheek with her free hand.

"...Both of us also fell in love with him." Yumiko finished Yukinoshita's sentence as she too turned towards Hikigaya and began to caress his left cheek. _Um… Where is this going, exactly..?_

"We couldn't figure out which one of us loved him more, or which of us _he_ loved more, so we came to a compromise." Yukinoshita moved her face closer to Hikigaya's, until her lips were almost touching his cheek, which was now getting redder by the second.

"Neither of us wanted anyone else getting _close_ with him, so we decided to join forces and _share_ him amongst the two of us." Yumiko mimicked Yukinoshita's movements, and I saw a few droplets of sweat sliding down Hikigaya's face. I glanced at Sora, who was looking at the scene unfolding before us with a baffled expression on her face.

"That's why..." Yukinoshita practically whispered as she closed her eyes and planted a kiss on Hikigaya's right cheek.

"...We won't let him go..." Yumiko also closed her eyes and kissed Hikigaya's left cheek. _They are… surprisingly in sync… In a very creepy way…_

" _Ever!_ " Both of the girls shouted out in unison, causing Sora and I to flinch as they pulled away from Hikigaya to look back at us. I could see their grips on Hikigaya's arms tightening, and the look the girls had in their eyes gave me chills. _Was… this what Hikigaya meant when he said they were…_ extreme _?_

"Um… I think they get the point..." Hikigaya said weakly and tried to raise his hand, but to no avail. "Could you… let go of me, now?" Yukinoshita and Yumiko turned their gazes to Hikigaya, then let go of his arms after a brief moment. " _Arigatou_. So… there you have it. The crazy truth about my relationship status. I doubt I need to tell you _why_ we keep it a secret." _Right… Their situation is similar to mine and Sora's, in a way._ _This also explains why Hikigaya – and Yumiko-san as well – was so ready to accept_ our _relationship, since_ their _relationship with each other is also one not fully accepted by society. Though,_ _our situation concerning that is definitely worse. Not like we care, and I doubt they do either._

"Right, of course. Polygamy… _is_ illegal, after all… Anyway, that is… Unique, to say the least. Can't say I've ever met anyone else who was… _happily_..?" I paused briefly and raised an eyebrow, continuing once I received a smile and a nod from Hikigaya. "...In a _three-way_ relationship like this."

"So… You don't find it… _weird_? I mean… What we are doing is… very much unheard of." Yukinoshita asked from me, tilting her head slightly. _Ah, of course she would be asking that._ _With Yumiko-san, I could easily explain it, but… This_ _might be a little tricky…_

"Well… Should I? I mean… If you three are happy like that, there shouldn't be anything weird about it, right? This is what you've _chosen_ for yourselves." Yukinoshita gazed deep into my eyes for a few moments, then shifted her gaze to Sora, as if expecting an answer from her, too.

"Hm? Oh, I guess it is kind weird, but… As Haru said, as long as you three are happy with it, everything should be fine." Sora said to Yukinoshita with a smile. "You know, I honestly thought this was going to be about something else, so I'm a little relieved about this… _reveal_ of yours. Can't say I didn't see it coming, though." Yukinoshita's eyes widened a little as Sora moved her gaze over to Yumiko. "I suspected that Yumiko-san _fancied_ Hikigaya-san pretty much from the first moments I saw her. But, I didn't really expect something like _this_." Yumiko looked at my sister for a few moments, then smiled as she placed a hand on top of Sora's shoulder.

"I'm glad that like, you guys understand. Yukinoshita's always like, worried about something or other when it comes to the three of us, but I've never really cared that much." Yukinoshita let out a small sigh as she began to massage her temple, but Yumiko ignored her. "No-one other than us actually like, gives a shit about Hikio, so nobody pays any attention to him. And like, even if somebody happened to see him first with Yukinoshita and then with me, they would like, only see him as someone who's two-timing. And another nasty rumour or two about Hikio won't do anything bad." Now it was Hikigaya's turn to sigh.

"While there is some truth in your latter statement, I don't agree with your first one, Miura-san." Yukinoshita said as she took a step towards. "What would our families think if they found out? _Your_ friends at the University? _Yuigahama-san_?" Yumiko flinched a little at the mention of this 'Yuigahama' and bit her lip. _Someone… Close to her, perhaps?_

"I get it, I get it." Yumiko replied after taking a deep breath. "I know better than to hurt a friend by boasting that I'm together with the guy she used to like. Unfortunately, _you_ don't have such luxury."

"Um… I'm not quite sure I understand..." Sora said, bringing the attention of the two girls to herself. Yukinoshita opened her mouth to reply, but was stopped by Hikigaya placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Let me, Yuki." Yukinoshita looked at her boyfriend for a few seconds, then gave him a slow nod as a reply. "Yuigahama is a friend of ours. She… used to have a crush on me back in High School, but after… well, _everything…_ she's now moved on. She doesn't go to Chiba Uni like the three of us do, but we all still keep in touch with her." Hikigaya paused for a bit, and Sora nodded to him in understanding. "To her… I am in a relationship with Yuki, and close friends with Yumi, just like what you were initially told. We keep the… _true nature_ of our relationships with each other a secret, but publicly… I am dating Yuki."

"I see… How does… Yumiko-san feel about this?" Sora asked, turning to the blonde girl, who crossed her arms and let out sigh at the question.

"Honestly? I fucking hate this arrangement. It makes it like, harder for me to be lovey-dovey with Hikio, and since I'm _supposedly_ 'single', I always have some guys asking me out. They're worthless trash, though. I only need Hikio in my life." _That's a bit harsh…_ "But, I like, understand the reasoning behind it, so I'm cool with it. And… Hikio also… _compensates_ for it nicely when we're alone..." Yumiko glanced at Hikigaya and licked her lips, causing the black-haired boy to swallow as a slight blush rose to his cheeks. _Well… There's no doubts about what_ that _meant…_

"So… there's a special reason as to why it's like this and not the other way around?" I asked as I glanced between the two girls.

"My family." Yukinoshita replied after a few moments of silence. "I won't go into detail, but I will say that me being in a relationship with Hikigaya-kun is extremely important concerning certain things relating to my family. They are also the biggest reason as to why we keep this a secret." I nodded understandingly to Yukinoshita. _I won't pry any further. They've already taken a big risk telling us about this._ "If you two have no more questions… Shall we continue with this 'shopping trip' of ours, like we planned?" I looked at Sora, who simply shook her head at me.

"Let's do that." I replied to Yukinoshita, who nodded back to me.

"Good. And one more thing..." Yukinoshita came right up close to the two of us and placed a hand on each of our shoulders. "...I don't think I need to tell you this, but you _must_ not speak about this. Not in any situation, not to anyone. The five of us are the _only_ people who know the truth about the relationship Hikigaya-kun has with Miura-san and myself, and I want to keep it that way. _Understood_?" Yukinoshita sent both of us a chilly glare, akin to the ones she displayed before we managed to convince her that mine and Sora's relationship was that of normal siblings, and the tone of her voice as she finished was frigid, sending a chill down my spine. _She is… really serious about this…_

"U-understood." I replied, while Sora simply nodded at the older girl.

" _Arigatou_." Yukinoshita said and let go of our shoulders. "The two of you deserved to know the truth, but we can never be too careful. Let's go." As she finished, Yukinoshita began to walk back towards the staircase we used to get up here.

"Yukinoshita's right." Yumiko said as she walked past us, stopping briefly to look back at us. " _Now we're even, Sora, Haru._ " She said quietly with a wink. "But… If either of you even so much as _hint_ towards what you've learned of today..." Yumiko's eyes suddenly became duller. " _Let's hope it doesn't come to that, right?_ " Another shiver went down my spine as Yumiko finished and turned around, catching up to Yukinoshita. _They were… never this scary before…_

"We should hurry, don't want to keep them waiting." Hikigaya said in his usual, monotone voice as he hurried after the girls, briefly meeting my eyes as he passed by the two of us.

I stood completely still for a few seconds, just watching the three figures make their way further away from us, before turning to look at Sora. She had a thoughtful look on her face as she stared off towards Hikigaya and his… _two girlfriends_. _It is a little unbelievable… I have so many questions I would like to ask them, but…_ I shook my head to clear my thoughts and took hold of my sister's hand, then began to hastily walk over to where our three companions were waiting for us, with Yukinoshita and Yumiko already starting to make their way down the spiral staircase. _I shouldn't think too much about it. If they're happy with their decision, that's all that matters._ I found my gaze shifting over to my sister, and I tightened my hold on her hand as a smile appeared on my face. Sora looked back at me, and began to smile as well, gripping back onto my hand as our fingers intertwined. Feeling the warmth from her hand mixing with my own, I gave a quick glance towards the stairs again, and upon seeing Yukinoshita's head disappear as she walked down, I gave my sister a quick kiss on the forehead.

 _Just like with the two of us._

* * *

"... _And the pairs will be as follows:_ _Mikami and Miura, Sora and Kyou, Haruka and Yukinoshita, Tomoya and Hikigaya._ _Little Ushio can tag along with one of her parents._ _Did all of you get that? Do you all know who you're paired with?_ " Everyone nodded to Harri, and I looked towards the older woman I was paired up with. _I would have obviously preferred Haru, but… It'll be good to get to spend some time with Kyou-san._

It was a Thursday morning, and most of us had woken up only a couple of hours ago. I had only been awake for about half an hour, though, as last night's activities with Haru had left me _very_ tired. We weren't sure if I was pregnant or not yet, but Haru was _more_ than willing to make sure that was the case, and what kind of sister would I be if I objected to my dear brother's wish?

Harri had gathered all of us at the main lobby downstairs this morning. Because Yumiko had recovered from her illness, there was a nice, even number of us – excluding the youngest of the bunch, Ushio. Harri had divided us into pairs at random, and we were to spend the day with our assigned pair doing various predetermined activities as part of his project. The pairs were decided at random, but Harri had made sure that no-one got paired up with someone from their own "group", to "mix things up" as he put it.

As all of us paired up, I found my gaze wandering over to Haru, who was paired up with Yukino. After Yumiko learned about the truth of our relationship, the two of us had gotten quite close to the three University students from Chiba. And while the relationship we had with Yukino was only getting better with each day compared to our first meeting (if yesterday's shopping trip is anything to go by), I couldn't help but be a little worried. _We've seen what she was like when she knew about mine and Haru's relationship, and I don't want to find out what her reaction would be if she found out that we tricked her. Not after the friendship we've managed to build up with her… Though I would like to be able to be honest with her…_

"Sora?" Hearing my name pulled me out of my thoughts, and I turned towards the source of the voice to meet Kyou's purple eyes looking at me with curiosity. "What's on your mind? Longing to spend to day with your brother?" A slight blush appeared on my cheeks at Kyou's words, but I calmed myself and suppressed the blush from spreading. _Kyou-san is once again closer to the truth than she thinks…_

"Well… I guess you could say that. Not that I wouldn't enjoy being with you, Kyou-san. I'm looking forwards to spending time with you." I replied to the older woman with a smile, then glanced around briefly, noticing that Ushio was currently standing next to her father, who in turn was chatting with Hikigaya. "Is Ushio not coming with us today?" Kyou glanced at where I was looking, then shook her head.

"No, she'll be with her father today. I'm not sure how we'll she's going to do with Hikigaya being around, though..." Kyou sent a bit of a longing gaze towards the young girl as she bit her lip. _Kyou-san is… truly motherly. Even though Ushio isn't biologically her child. I… I want to be as good of a mother as she is…_

"You're… a good mother, Kyou-san." I said with a smile, and Kyou turned to face me again, a look of confusion on her face. "I don't think you have to worry, though. Hikigaya-san said that he was good with children yesterday. He's… a good guy, you could say."

"Oh, well… That's… good to hear, I guess. He mostly keeps to himself, so I didn't really know much about him. You and Haruka have been getting close to them recently, right?" I nodded to Kyou as a response to her question. _It's not like_ _we_ _are hiding our friendship from the others._ "Hmm… Correct me if I'm wrong, but… Initially, it seemed like there was some… _tension_ , or even _animosity_ between you two and Yukinoshita?" I flinched a little as Kyou finished and averted my gaze from her. _I… guess we weren't really hiding that, either…_

"That? Well… There was… _something_ , yes. A… _misunderstanding_ , if you will. But, it's been resolved, and we're all friends, now." I replied to Kyou, who gave me an understanding nod as a reply.

"I won't pry any further, then. I'm glad you're getting along with the others, though." Kyou then said with a smile, and right afterwards, our attention was taken by Harri clapping his hands together.

" _Right, now that everyone has_ _paired up, we'll divid_ _e today's activities and their locations among all of you. You will be going through the different activities as thoroughly as possible, and will be taking notes along the way. Take a note of anything that comes to mind relating to the activities presented to you, transport and travel to said activities, the quality of the customer service, or anything else. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated._ " Harri paused for a moment and began to search around for something from the bag slung over his shoulder, and I took the chance to lean closer to Kyou to whisper to her.

" _So, what did he say we're going to do?_ " I quietly asked from the older woman while still keeping my gaze fixated on Harri. _I got a little bit of what he said, but… I might need to learn some English, after all. I'll always be with Haru, but I don't want to rely on him_ too _much. Not after I promised him I'd stand with him as an equal._

"Hm?" Kyou glanced between me and Harri for a brief moment, before realizing that I hadn't understood what Harri had said. " _Oh, it's essentially just what we've already been doing. Gather some data for him about the various things, write down any good or bad experiences we have,_ _and any ideas for improvement._ " Kyou whispered back to me, and I gave her a quick nod as Harri pulled out some pieces of paper from his bag and began to organize – or perhaps _shuffle_ – them.

" _Alright, to make things a little more interesting, we'll let each of you randomly choose where you will go today._ " Harri said and presented the pieces of paper to us, now held in a neat fan in his right hand. " _Each of these has the name of a tourist attraction written on it, and each pair will blindly choose one. We will be using the whole day today, and I've made some preparations, so some of these might be a bit farther away than the ones we've visited before._ _That way, you'll_ _have a chance to experience something new._ " Harri began to go around the room, stopping by each pair to allow them to blindly choose their destination for today. The first to choose were Mikami and Yumiko, then Haru and Yukino, and we were third.

"You should choose, Sora." Kyou said to me as Harri came up to us, extending his hand towards us. I looked at Kyou, who simply nodded to me with a smile, so I reached out with my hand and took one of the pieces of paper, then flipped it over. "What does it say?"

" _Ranua Zoo_." I read out loud. "A zoo? I haven't seen or heard anything about there being a zoo here." I turned to look at Kyou and raised an eyebrow in question.

"I can't say I know of one either… But I think this 'Ranua' is a city somewhere to the southeast." Kyou said as she leaned over my shoulder, her purple hair tickling my ear. "I'm sure we can ask Harri more about it." I gave Kyou a nod, then turned my gaze back to Harri. _A zoo, huh… What kinds of animals could they have there in a country like this? I hope it's not just all reindeer._ I found my gaze once again wandering to Haru as he discussed with Yukino about something – most likely their tourist attraction. Yukino happened to look in my direction, and our eyes met. The raven-haired girl kept talking with Haru, but sent a small smile in my direction, which I returned to her. _I'm sure Haru will be fine with her. I always think Haru worries about me too much, but_ I _worry about him at least as much as he worries about me._ I felt the smile on my face growing as I gazed at my brother, currently lightly chuckling at something either he or Yukino had said, and I could hear a light giggle coming from her as well. _He'll be fine. He's my Haru, after all._

After every pair had gotten a tourist attraction to visit, Harri briefly went over what – and _where –_ each one of them was. _Ranua Zoo_ was in fact located in the city of Ranua, a simple one-hour drive away from Rovaniemi. Out of all the different locations Harri had planned for us to go to today, the zoo was the one farthest away, so Harri was willing to take Kyou and I there – a proposal which the two of us gladly accepted. After some brief preparations, Kyou and I found ourselves sitting at the back seat of Harri's SUV. Due to my lack of sleep last night – all because of Haru – I found my eyelids quickly feeling quite heavy, and the last thing I remember before falling asleep was the feeling of a soft hand caressing my hair, and a motherly voice whispering into my ear.

" _Sleep well, Sora. You deserve it."_

* * *

" _The Santa Claus Village_ … Not exactly what I had expected it to be." I said as I stepped out from the bus, then reached out with my hand to help the girl with me do the same.

" _Arigatou_. And, well, we _have_ come here during summer, so it won't be exactly like the 'winter wonderland' described in travel ads. But, I think this place has its charm even during summer." The girl replied as she stepped down to stand next to me, quickly pulling her hand away from mine. "And I hope that there is nothing behind that _gesture_ of yours, Kasugano-kun."

"Oh, don't worry, Yukinoshita-san. I was just being polite." I replied and raised up my hands away from the older girl. "After yesterday… Well, I know you wouldn't give up Hikigaya for someone like me, anyway."

"Hmm… That is quite correct. Now, shall we begin?" I gave the raven-haired girl a nod, and we began to make our way to the famous Santa Claus Village.

This morning, when Harri first divided us into pairs and then had us blindly pick the places we'd be visiting as tourists, Yukinoshita and I were "lucky" enough to get to visit arguably the most popular and well-known tourist attraction in Rovaniemi – the Santa Claus Village. Even at the height of summer, it was still bustling with activity, as tourists flocked around the central courtyard and around the buildings. And, despite the fact that the sun was glaring down at us from above, and everyone we saw – including us – was dressed lightly to accommodate for the heat of the summer sun, I could still get a " _festive feel_ " from the whole place. _They've definitely nailed the atmosphere here, just like back in Arktikum. Harri and his colleagues are probably to thank for that._

"So, where should we go first?" I asked from Yukinoshita as we walked up to a large board showcasing everything there was to do here. A few other tourists – some of them Japanese – were also looking up at the large signboard with a stylized, cartoony version of the whole place. _This place is quite big, now that I think about it…_

"Hmm… This ' _Roosevelt's Cottage_ ' seems interesting, as it seems to refer to Franklin Roosevelt, a past president of the United States. Could it be just a cheap advertising trick..? He died just months before World War Two ended..." Yukinoshita brought a finger to her chin as she looked up at the sign thoughtfully for a few seconds, before turning to look at me, noticing that I was staring at her. "A-ah, sorry, I got a little lost in my thoughts there. I-is there anywhere you want to go, Kasugano-kun?"

"Anywhere I want to go? Well..." I shifted my gaze from the girl next to me up towards the sign as well, quickly scanning through the various things the Village had to offer. _Santa's House of Snowmobiles… Santa's Office… Elf's Farm Yard Petting Zoo… Husky Park? That sounds like it would be nice. I've never seen a live Husky before._ "I'd say a lot of these sound interesting, but to start with, we could go to the Husky park. It's just past the cottage you were interested in." I said and turned to Yukinoshita again.

"Alright, sounds reasonable. We'll be able to visit some of the other attractions on the way as well, then work our way clockwise back to this side of the Village, and see what it has to offer afterwards?" Yukinoshita tilted her head slightly as she looked back at me.

"Sounds good to me. Let's go, then."

Yukinoshita took out a notebook and a pencil as we began to make our way to 'Roosevelt's Cottage', already taking notes about the bus trip here, and the availability of tourist information regarding the Village. We passed by the main office of Santa Claus – as well as multiple other tourist groups – on our way to our destination. Upon arriving, we were met with a semi-large group of tourists standing just outside the relatively small cottage with the English words " _Old Arctic Circle Cottage_ " written above the door. IN the centre of the tourist group, I could spot a person dressed like one of Santa's elves, who I guessed had to be an employee. Yukinoshita wasn't one for crowds, but after a few deep breaths to calm herself, the two of us joined the group as they entered the cottage.

The inside wasn't much more grand than the outside had been, but I liked the aesthetics of the old building, which was made nearly completely out of logs. The employee there with us told us about the history of the building, and as it turns out, Yukinoshita was quite wrong about her assumption about the cottage – though she wasn't far off the mark. The cottage was built in 1950, and it got its nickname not from Franklin Roosevelt, but his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, who the cottage was built for when she visited Finland on behalf of the UN. The cottage was hastily built within a week for the late president's wife, as the location – the Arctic Circle – was to act as the place for Eleanor's welcoming party. After our "guide" finished, we could have a look around the cottage, and even sign our names into the guestbook. While Yukinoshita deemed that it was "unnecessary to add her name to the list as it would simply get forgotten amongst the thousands of names written there", I wrote my name down in the guestbook, in both Kanji and western letters.

After the cottage, we made our way towards the Husky park, briefly stopping by _Santa's House of Snowmobiles_ and the Farm Yard Petting Zoo on the way. While snowmobiles weren't really of interest to either one of us, we spent a bit of time with the farm animals, feeding and petting them, as well as just simply observing the sheep, goats, and other animals as they walked around semi-freely. Yukinoshita was a little disappointed at the lack of cats, as they – according to her – were " _undoubtedly_ the most important farm animal due to their role as rodent exterminators", but I could tell that she enjoyed our brief time there. _Hikigaya is lucky to have a girl like her. Although, I guess you could count him as lucky just based on the fact that he_ _is in a romantic relationship with_ two _girls… Many people would be jealous if they knew about it, but reality is different from fantasy. Hikigaya, Yukinoshita-san and Yumiko-san have their own problems and challenges to deal with due to their unique relationship, just like Sora and_ I. I Iet my gaze wander over Yukinoshita as she wrote something down in her notebook, the entrance to the Husky park – a large, wooden arch with " _HUSKY PARK_ " carved into it – coming up just in front of us. _I really wish we could be honest with her about mine and Sora's relationship…_

"Kasugano-kun?" Yukinoshita's voice brought me out of my thoughts, and I noticed the raven-haired girl looking back at me – though I didn't know how long she had been looking at me.

"Oh, um… sorry, I was just absorbed in my thoughts. What is it?" I asked and averted my gaze from Yukinoshita.

"I was just wondering if it was okay with you if we could take a break after this? This place is larger than I anticipated, and having to walk everywhere is a little… _tiring_." Yukinoshita said, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. _Ah, right. She doesn't have that much stamina._

"No worries, Yukinoshita-san. I'm used to things like that with Sora already." I replied as we passed under the archway into the husky park. I could already hear the sounds of some of the dogs in the distance, though it was a little more quiet than what I had expected.

"Yes, of course… Sora-san has a… weak physique, does she not? Is it the result of something genetic? And if so, how come you're not like her in that regard?"

"Well… Sora has always been a weak, frail girl, and she spent most of her childhood in hospital because of it. As for the cause… It probably is genetic. Rather than identical twins, we're _fraternal_ ones, which might explain why I didn't inherit the physical weakness Sora displays." I explained to Yukinoshita.

"Right… Um… Kasugano-kun, about your sister..." I turned to look at Yukinoshita, but before she could say anything, a loud bark coming from nearby disturbed our conversation, and Yukinoshita jumped in surprise.

"Oh, it's the huskies." I turned to look towards the source of the sound, and saw around half a dozen huskies being led outside of a building, with another employee dressed as an elf handling their leashes. "Look at that, Yukinoshita-san. Aren't they cute?" I turned to Yukinoshita again, and was met with a face paler than anything I had ever seen before in my life, as the girl in front of my stared at the dogs with _fear_ written all over her face. "Um… Yukinoshita-san..?"

"The… The… T-they're… _dogs_?" Yukinoshita managed to stutter out as she pointed towards the huskies, her entire arm shaking. _What's with this reaction? Don't tell me…_

"Well… yes. Siberian huskies are a dog breed. Did you… not know that?" Yukinoshita quickly shook her head, her gaze still glued to the dogs. "Are you perhaps… _afraid_ of dogs, Yukinoshita-san?"

"A-afraid? I-I wouldn't go so far as to say..." As the huskies noticed our presence, a couple of them began to bark and wag their tails in excitement in seeing new humans they haven't met before, causing Yukinoshita to jump again, and as one of the huskies tried to run towards us, she quickly grabbed hold of my shoulder and hid behind me, the leash stopping the husky about one metre away from us. _She's… definitely afraid of dogs…_

"Are you… alright, Yukinoshita-san?" I asked, but received no response from the girl as she gripped onto my shoulders, seemingly harder each time one of the dogs made any sort of sound. "How about… we just go and have that break right now? We passed by that cafe earlier, how does that sound?" Yukinoshita's eyes were shut tight, but she seemingly understood me as she gave me a quick nod as a reply. "Okay, can you… let go of me? So we can go to the cafe?" Again, there was no response, and with a sigh, I began to awkwardly walk backwards away from the husky park, receiving both odd and amused looks from those who witnessed the event.

After I had made my way out of the park, I started to make my way towards the cafe, this time walking forwards with Yukinoshita still gripping onto me from behind. _I would never have guessed that she would be so afraid of dogs… Then again, I should have probably asked, or told her about the huskies in the first place._ Before we arrived at the cafe, I felt a slight tug on my sleeve, and turned around to see Yukinoshita had stopped and finally opened her eyes.

"Kasugano-kun, I… I'm sorry." Yukinoshita apologised and let go of me, bowing briefly. "You really wanted to go see the dogs, right? If… If you give me a minute, I can relax and compose myself, then we can go back there once I'm ready for the dogs."

"You don't have to, Yukinoshita-san. I should be the one to be sorry. I assumed that you would know what a husky is, and since you didn't seem opposed to the idea… I'm sorry." I said and carefully placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's no big deal if we don't go see them again." Yukinoshita gazed into my eyes for a few moments, and I found myself getting lost in those icy blue orbs of hers. _She really is pretty… Hikigaya truly is lucky to have a girl like her._

"Alright." Yukinoshita said and moved my hand away from her shoulder. "If Hachi was here, he'd probably say you were trying to ' _raise my flags_ ', like in those perverted visual novels of his… Seriously, he already has the two of us, and he still finds time to play such things..." Yukinoshita crossed her arms, and I found a smile of amusement growing on my face. _It's probably safe to say that Yukinoshita-san and Yumiko-san are equally as lucky to have Hikigaya._

"As I said, I am just being polite. Now, I can't say that the way I act _hasn't_ 'raised the flags' of girls in the past, but… That's all in the past for a reason." I replied and scratched my cheek awkwardly. "Anyway, you were… going to ask me something about Sora, right?" Yukinoshita seemed to freeze in place for a moment, before taking a deep breath.

"Not so much _ask_ , but… Well, I guess it is both a question and a statement." Yukinoshita said – in a much more serious tone than before – and looked me straight in the eyes again. "Yesterday, the three of us let you in on the biggest secret of our lives. We, or at least _I_ , felt like you were trustworthy enough, so we were _honest_ with you. And, while these past few days I have gotten to know you two better, and have come to the conclusion that you are good people… I cannot help but feel that _you_ aren't being honest with us. Or rather, with _me_." Yukinoshita paused, and I swallowed down the lump forming in my throat. _Has she… found out?_

"So… what does this have to do with… Sora..?" I carefully asked, feeling a drop of sweat going down my face – not caused by the heat. _Don't tell me… that everything we did has gone to waste? Was our friendship with Yukinoshita-san so short-lived?_

"I believe that you aren't being honest with me regarding the relationship you have with your sister, Kasugano-kun. So, while I'm fairly certain I know the answer already – and have known for some time now… What kind of relationship do you have with your sister? And this time..."

" _Please, be honest._ "

* * *

 **AN: And it's done! I was originally going to have another segment with Sora and Kyou at the end, but decided that it would be best to get this chapter out now. I'll most likely add it to the start of the next chapter, which – HOPEFULLY – will not take as long as this one did. I only have myself and my laziness to blame for the delay, and I promise, pinky promise that it won't happen again. If it does, you're legally allowed to hit me through the power of the internet.**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Hello, dear readers! I definitely deserve that hit from you guys (and gals?) that I promised at the end of the last chapter. After I had finished the last chapter, it took me _two weeks_ to write a new chapter for my Mayo Chiki! story, all due to my own laziness. And I can safely say now that I've made a scientific discovery: Delaying things only leads to more delays. Source: Me.**

 **But, enough of my soon to be world-wide known breakthroughs in the world of science, let's get this chapter going!**

* * *

 **Chapter 13 – A Mother and a Sister**

" _..._ _up. Wake up, Sora. We're here._ " A voice kept calling out to me, and I reluctantly followed its orders and opened my eyes.

"Mmmmm… Where… am I..?" I rubbed the sleep from my eyes with my right hand, and found myself in the back seat of a car with a pleasant warmth emanating from my left. _Oh, right. The trip to the zoo…_ As the grogginess lifted from my brain, I noticed that the car was still moving, and that the warmth on my left came from a _person_ – whose shoulder I was currently leaning on.

"We'll be at the zoo shortly, and Harri wanted me to wake you up." The person said to me, and I looked towards them to meet the purple eyes of Okazaki Kyou looking back at me.

"Oh, I see." I replied and lifted my head away from her shoulder. "Sorry I dozed off on you like that, I didn't get much sleep last night." I continued and looked outside the window, being met with a large parking lot absolutely chock-full of cars. On the side of the parking lot, I could spot numerous flagpoles with a multitude of flags from different countries – though I couldn't really recognise any of them, apart from the flag of Japan.

"Don't worry about it, Sora. You looked so peaceful when you were sleeping, I couldn't just wake you up." Kyou said to me with a smile. "I… will confess, I did pat your head when you were asleep. A… lot, may I add. Sorry, I couldn't help myself! Your hair is just so... _smooth_ and _silky_." I felt a slight blush rising to my cheeks at the sudden compliment, as well as the embarrassment from the thought of having Kyou touch me so _casually_. _Haru does it to me often, and I remember…_ mother _used to do so as well…_

"Ah, i-it's no problem, Kyou-san. My… mother used to do it all the time when I was small..." I had promised to Haru to be strong, but a sudden wave of melancholy overwhelmed me as I thought of our late parents. _It's okay. What's in the past is in the past. That's right, I've moved on._ Suddenly, I felt a soft hand enveloping my own, and I turned to look towards Kyou, who was smiling at me, but had worry in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… bring back painful memories." Kyou said to me, and I felt the car stop moving. "Let's enjoy our day here, okay?" I nodded to Kyou, who simply smiled back at me sweetly, then let go of my hands.

" _Alright, here we are._ " Harri said from the front seat in English as he turned to look at the two of us in the back. _"While this ride I gave you two does conflict a little with my plans of having all of you use public transport today, I felt that it might have been a bit too much for Sora. That, and I also know that you two would have had to wait for multiple hours at the bus station to even start making your way here. Anyway, we're at_ _the_ _Widlife Park_ _now, and you two are free to go as you please. I'll meet you two back here at 3pm, so that gives you about five hours to do as you please. Of course, you don't have to spend all that time_ _here_ _, feel free to sightsee around the city itself._ " Kyou nodded to Harri, where as I didn't really understand everything he had said. _Something about public transport… being 'too much' for me? And five hours for sightseeing? Alright._ " _I'll give you a call when it gets close to 3, that sound good?_ "

" _Yeah, sounds good to me. I'll make sure not to use up my phone's battery, then_." Kyou replied to Harri, who nodded to her in response.

" _Great! Have a wonderful day, you two!_ "

Kyou and I gathered what little we had taken with us (some water bottles, jackets in case it started to rain, two pairs of sunglasses and a digital camera) – with Kyou carrying most of the stuff in a small backpack – and exited Harri's car out into the parking lot. One could tell that this place was a popular tourist attraction – for both Finns and foreigners – just be the sheer amount of cars all around us. Families were walking around here and there, with the youngest of the children running around amongst all of the parked cars. Harri gave us a quick wave, before he drove away, his black SUV disappearing into the sea of cars shortly enough.

"Aaahhh… It does feel good to get out and move about after a long care ride." Kyou said as she stretched a little, then handed me one pair of sunglasses. "Here, you'll probably need these. It doesn't look like it'll be cloudy any time soon." Kyou put on her own sunglasses and looked up at the sky, and I did the same. _She's right, I can't see a single cloud anywhere… Hard to believe that just a week ago, there was_ _a storm big enough to cause significant damage to Hideki's summer_ _cottage._ "Well, we better get going, so we can make the most of our time here." I looked back at the older woman, and gave her a nod as a reply.

With that, we began to make our way towards the ticket office, following after the numerous other families headed there. _Other families, huh…_ I found my gaze wandering over to Kyou, and took a good few moments to look at her. _I guess… we would be seen a_ _s just another family. Although, Kyou-san and I don't look that much alike. Still… having a mother like Kyou-san…_ I had been staring at Kyou for quite some time, and she seemed to finally noticed this, as she turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Hm? What's the matter, Sora?" Kyou asked from me as we neared the ticket office, about to step inside.

"Ah, n-nothing. I was just t-thinking, and happened to look at you." I replied quickly and averted my gaze. _Why am I getting so flustered? It's just Kyou-san._ In the corner of my eye, I saw Kyou looking at me curiously, but I couldn't meet her eyes with my own.

"If you say so." Kyou said as we entered the ticket office, and as I lifted my gaze, I was stunned by what I saw. I had expected a stuffy, cramped room full of tourists all lining up to a small counter where an ever-bubbly employee was struggling to keep their smile on their face, but was instead met with a spacious room cramped full not with people, but with _plushies_. Anywhere I looked, I was met with the beady eyes of various kinds of animal plushies, and the shining eyes of the children who looked at all of them in wonder. _There's… so many…_ "Wow, that's a lot of merchandise. And look at all the animals! They're so cute!" Kyou's voice shook me out of my awe, and turned to look at her again. _I can't tell whose eyes are shining more, hers, or those of the children…_

"I… guess they are." I replied and walked up to one of the shelves, carefully picking up a polar bear plushie from it. "This was definitely not what I expected." Kyou walked up to me and began examining the various animal plushies with glee, and I felt a smile growing on my face as I saw the older woman acting like a little girl in a candy shop. _I'll let her_ _have this moment for herself…_ _Being as great of a mother as Kyou-san is must be taxing._ _In the meantime… I wonder if they have any cat plushies here. I'm sure Yukino-san would be delighted to get her hands on one…_ I placed the polar bear gently back on the shelf and began to look around.

All of the plushies seemed to be of animals that one could find in the zoo itself. _Reindeer, brown bear, wolf, fox, otter, lynx… Not that many felines, huh?_ I walked over to the shelf were the lynx plushies were situated, picking one up to examine it. _Though, I get the feeling that Yukino-san might be fine with any feline, not just housecats._ As I placed the plushie back, I noticed another, white plushie next to it. I hadn't gotten a good look at it before, but now that I was close up to it, I could clearly see the animal it represented: a _rabbit_. _A rabbit doll…_ I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and reached out for the plushie, my hand shaking ever so slightly. _Mother…_

"Sora? Have you found something that you want to buy?" I heard Kyou ask as I held onto the rabbit plushie with both hands, not even turning to look at her as I stared into the beady eyes of the rabbit. "Sora..? W-wait, are you crying? Sora?" I turned to face Kyou, whose expression was now one of concern, and I felt a warm liquid running down my cheeks. "H-hold on, what's wrong?" Kyou began to wipe the tears from my face with her hand.

"Crying..? Why am I..." I said quietly, then looked at the rabbit plushie again. _Right… The rabbit doll… I wonder where I've put it? I had it with me on this trip, that's for sure…_ I took a hold of Kyou's hand with my own, stopping her from wiping my tears. _I'm strong enough to do this myself. I need to get over it eventually._ "Sorry. Just… seeing this plushie brought back… _memories_." I said and held out the rabbit I was holding with my free hand. "When Haru and I were little… our mother… she gave me a rabbit doll to cheer me up when I was hospitalized. While it wasn't exactly like this one… I was reminded of it when I saw this, and..." I trailed off and bit my lip, gripping onto the rabbit plushie a little tighter, before I felt a pair of arms wrapping around me as Kyou enveloped me in a hug.

"It's okay, Sora. I… I can be here for you. Even… even if your actual mother isn't… any more..." I felt Kyou's embrace tightening, and I let my arms fall to my sides, though I still kept a hold on the rabbit plushie. _Kyou-san…_ I hugged he older woman back with my free hand, giving into her _motherlike_ hug. We stayed like this for a few moments, until I saw some of the other tourists gazing at us with intrigue. Receiving attention from so many strangers at such an _intimate_ display brought a blush to my cheeks, and I quickly released myself from Kyouu's embrace, placing the rabbit plushie back on the shelf as my embarrassment grew with each passing moment. _Agh! How could I let my guard down like that and do such an embarrassing thing in front of people I don't know! If it was with Haru, I wouldn't mind too much, but… There's just something about Kyou-san… She…_

 _She reminds me of Mother._

"Sora?" Kyou's voice caused me to flinch, and I turned to look at her, being met with a confused expression and a raised eyebrow.

"I-I'm fine now. _A-arigatou_." I said quietly and turned towards the other side of the room, where the actual ticket counter was located. "We shouldn't dawdle here for long. Let's go."

I quietly made my way over to the line of people waiting for their turn to purchase tickets, and Kyou soon joined me, though she didn't say anything to me. All I wanted was to get our tickets, then leave as soon as possible, as the gazes now directed at me by the curious children (and some of the adults too) were making me very uncomfortable. _I just… feel so_ at ease _when I'm with Kyou-san… I let my guard down and showed_ _my_ _weakness in front of other people… I can't let that happen again._

It didn't take long for it to be our turn to buy tickets, which turned out to be small bracelets made out of paper that we had to wear on or wrists while we were within the area of the Wildlife Park. As we stepped outside the ticket office through a side door, I suddenly gained a new appreciation for the air-conditioned room, as the intense heat from the sun radiated down onto us. _And here I thought Finland was supposed to be a cold place…_ I placed my sunglasses on as we walked through the gate to the actual park itself, right past a person in a polar bear suit taking a picture with a group of children. _Though I suppose there are people worse off than me… At least I've got light clothes on._

"Right, let's have a look then..." Kyou said as we walked along the wooden duckboards, slowly making our way into the forest where the animals themselves would be located. Initially, I had expected the place to be more akin to a 'traditional' zoo, where the animals lived in the middle of a concrete jungle, but having seen and heard the term ' _Wildlife Park_ ' here and there, it now made more sense that the animals here lived just like they would in the wild, albeit contained within enclosures. "Firstly, we'll be seeing otters and beavers, it seems." Kyou read out as she looked at the map given to us by the ticket office lady. "I wonder if we'll get to see them swimming around? It is quite a hot day." Kyou looked back at me with a smile, as if expecting me to answer her rhetorical question.

"Well, the heat might make them lazy, so they'll be hiding in their nests, but I guess we'll see." I replied to Kyou. _If I was an otter and it was this hot out, I would probably just lazy around in my nest all day. Although… I guess that's what I'm doing as a human anyway…_

"Hmmmm… You know, Sora, I think you ought to be more optimistic. I know that… you and your brother have gone through a lot, and that it might be difficult to do that, but… I think it will help you in the long run. I mean, just look at Haruka. He's gone through the same things as you have, and he's always smiling. D-don't get me wrong, I'm not belittling you, just that…" I took Kyou's hand into my own to silence her, and gave her a smile.

"It's okay, Kyou-san. I… I get what you're saying. I've… always relied on Haru to be there for me, and he has, but… I think it's time for me to learn how to stand on my own, and not lean on my brother for support. Haru and I promised that we'd be together for the rest of our lives, and for that… I want to stand with him as an equal. Changing my mindset… will be the first step towards that." Kyou seemed to be taken aback by what I had said, as she stood in place and simply stared at me.

"You're… really making it sound like you're getting _married_ with your brother..." Kyou said after a few moments of silence and let out a little awkward laugh. _Why does she have such a knack for hitting really close to the truth with what she says, yet avoids it narrowly…_ I thought and turned away as a slight blush made its way onto my cheeks. "Ah, I mean… I know you two are really close, so… It's understandable. And you did say… all that stuff about… a possible _child_ as well." I turned back to look at the older woman, and saw a hint of pink on her cheeks as well. " _Ahem_. But, knowing and realizing that you need to change for the better is the first step towards actually changing yourself." Kyou continued with a smile on her face. "Now, why don't we leave all negative thoughts behind and just enjoy our day here?" I nodded to Kyou, who gave me a slight pat on the head, before we continued to make our way towards the otter enclosure. Kyou didn't let go of my hand, but I didn't mind it at all. Holding her hand as we walked made me feel _safe_ , as if I was together with Haru.

Shortly, we arrived at the otter enclosure, consisting of an outside pool connected to a small, wooden building, inside of which the otter's "nest" was located. My guess had been correct, as inside, through a small window, we could see one otter sleeping soundly. Kyou took out her digital camera and took a few pictures of the " _napping cutie_ ", as she called it, but we moved on to the beaver enclosure soon enough, located just next to the otter. Unlike the otter, however, the beaver was quite awake, as we could see it happily swimming about in its enclosure. Kyou was even more excited to see the beaver swimming around than she had been previously in the ticket office, and squeezed her way through a group of tourists in order to get a good picture. While she was occupying herself with the camera, I tried my best at reading some information on the animal from the signpost next to its enclosure. _The American Beaver… 'American'? What's it doing here, then?_ As my English skills weren't as good as say, Haru's or Kyou's, I wasn't able to get a firm grasp on the information written down, other than the fact that the beaver was a night-active animal, which made its appearance during a hot day like this quite the rare sight. _They go into heat early in the year, and give birth to 3-4 offspring at a time… Give birth…_ I found my hand unconsciously trailing down to my lower stomach as a warm feeling welled up inside of me.

"Sora! I got it! I got the picture!" Kyou's sudden exclamation caused me to jump, and I turned my head around to see Kyou holding out her camera in front of her, stretching the strap from her neck as far as it was possible. After I got over my surprise, I peered at the small screen of the camera to see a picture of the beaver sitting on a rock by the water as it was seemingly in the middle of cleaning itself. "Isn't it cute?" I looked away from the camera to meet Kyou's gleaming eyes. _You really are like a child in a candy shop…_

"I guess it is. Though the tail is a bit weird. I liked the otter more." I replied and turned to fully face Kyou.

"Hmmm… I guess you're right." Kyou said as she studied the picture she had taken, then looked at the informative signboard I had just been reading a moment ago. "Oh, were you reading this? I thought you weren't that good with English?" Kyou asked and began to eye through the text written about the beaver.

"I'm not, no. But, I can understand a little, like the part about their… _breeding habits_." I felt my cheeks flushing a little, but I shrugged it off to the best of my ability. _I guess Haru and I_ also _have breeding habits… Every night and as much as possible. Speaking of breeding habits… I wonder if Kyou-san has made any progress with Tomoya-san?_

"Huh, I see… Hey, maybe I should teach you some English at some point? What do you think?" Kyou looked at me again and held out her hand, and I found myself taking hers into my own as we continued further into the Wildlife Park along the duckboard path.

"Maybe at some point. I don't think I'll need it that much, but I appreciate that you're willing to help." I replied to Kyou as she took out her map again. _If I'm going to ask about_ that… _Now is as good a time as any. I could also get some useful information out of this…_ "Hey, Kyou-san?" The older woman turned to look at me and raised an eyebrow. "Have you… How do I put this… Had any chances to… _you know_ , with your husband?" Kyou looked at me for a few moments, before her eyes widened as she realized what I was talking about.

"O-oh, you mean… R-right, um… We… haven't had _many_ chances, what with Ushio and all, but… We have made _good use_ of each chance we've gotten..." Kyou explained as she fidgeted slightly, her face getting redder by the second. "Ah, l-look! It's the crane!" I turned towards the direction Kyou was pointing in, and was met with a group of tourists gazing into another enclosure, in which I could spot a large, long-legged bird walking around in what seemed like marshland. It didn't seem to mind the tourists gawking at it, instead simply gazing back at us with disinterest.

"It looks like the _tanchōzuru_ birds in Hokkaidō, though it's a bit smaller **[1]**. Say, why doesn't it just… fly away? I can't see a roof of any kind on this enclosure." I said as I looked upwards, noticing that the fencing of the enclosure didn't reach up to the canopy.

"It probably _can't_ fly. Harri told me about this place while you were asleep, and he told me that many of the animals here are ones who have been injured somehow, and were brought here to live as comfortably as possible, because their injuries would prevent a lifestyle normal for that species." Kyou explained to me. "Many of the birds that live here have injured their wings one way or another, and are now incapable of flight."

"Oh, I see." I replied as Kyou took a picture of the crane while it was preening itself. _So it can't fly, then? Poor thing..._ "So… back to our previous topic… do you… know if you've had any success?" I turned back towards Kyou, who lowered her camera after my question.

"Well… We don't know that yet..." Kyou replied and scratched her cheek awkwardly. "I mean… I would _hope_ that's the case, but… This early on, it's impossible to tell whether I'm… _pregnant_ or not. Many of the symptoms – including the tell-tale sign of a missed period – only start to surface a good few weeks into the pregnancy, though that also depends on the individual. Some might have morning sickness right from the start, others may not experience it at all, and so on." Kyou started to walk down the duckboard path again, and I walked alongside her. "I _could_ make a pregnancy test, but… They usually also work best around a week after… well, you know. _F-fertilization_." I saw a slight dusting of pink on Kyou's cheeks as she finished. _A pregnancy test… Of course, I could use one of those!_ I felt a smile growing on my face, and noticed that Kyou was looking at me with curious expression.

"How would… you go about doing a pregnancy test, then?" _I have to be careful here…_

"There's home pregnancy tests you can buy at pharmacies, I think. I might see about buying one if I have the chance… Though I'm not sure if a foreigner will be able to buy something like that." _Hmm… That's a little disappointing… Maybe I could get Maria, or perhaps Hideki to buy one for me, if I meet them again..._

"I… guess here's hoping that you can, then?" I said to Kyou as we walked up to a semi-large building with glass-walled enclosures connected to it. "So, what's this place? With the way the path splits, it doesn't look like it's 'mandatory', so to speak." I asked as I looked around, seeing most of the tourists going inside the building, with only a few skipping ahead on the alternate path.

"Let's see..." Kyou took out her map again and studied it for a brief moment. "It's an animal house for rodents and mustelids, so small mammals, essentially. They sound like they'd be cute, at least to me." Kyou began to make her way inside the building, so I followed after her.

" _Mustelids_? What are they?" I asked as we entered, being met with multiple different glass 'windows' where groups of tourists were gathered as they pressed their faces against the glass to catch a peek of the animals inside their enclosures.

"The otter we just saw was a mustelid, I think. They're mammals with short legs and elongated bodies, think the _mujina_ **[2]** back home, or the _itachi_ **[3]**. Domesticated ferrets are also mustelids." I turned towards Kyou as she tried to spy the stoat from its enclosure, but she looked back at me after a few seconds of failing to spot the small mammal anywhere. "What's with the baffled expression? Despite my less-than-perfect attendance record – which was still better than Tomoya's, mind you – I _did_ study in school. Especially anything to do with cute animals." Kyou said to me with a slight pout, while I let out a giggle.

"Sorry, I was just… _stunned_ for a moment. I didn't expect you to know so much, Kyou-san." I replied to the older woman with a smile, while she looked away from me at the sudden compliment.

"It's not really… Ryou knows a lot more…" Kyou fidgeted a little, when suddenly her eyes locked onto something on the other side of the room. "Sora! Look!" Kyou walked past me briskly and grabbed me by the arm with surprising strength as she pulled me along towards a small, glass window. Inside it, curled up on some straw, was a smallish animal with light brown fur sleeping peacefully. Kyou let out a squeal as she fumbled about for her camera, while I looked to the side at the info board about the animal.

"A _pine marten_ , huh? You're right, it does kind of look like an _itachi_. And since it's nocturnal, it sleeps during the day…" I looked back at Kyou, and saw her taking multiple pictures of the sleeping marten – which, even I had to admit was really cute. "Won't it get bothered by the flash? I certainly wouldn't be able to sleep if there were people taking pictures of my constantly." I asked, and Kyou paused in her frantic picture-taking to turn her gaze to me.

"If I had to guess, I'd say this glass is only one-way, so this cute little fellow couldn't see us even if he was awake." Kyou replied, then took one more photo of the marten before leaving it to sleep in peace.

"I guess..." I kept my gaze on the sleeping form of the marten for a few more moments, watching its small chest rise rhythmically as it breathed, then followed after Kyou as she made her way to a semi-large glass window, behind which we could see multiple small rodents running around within layers of hay and on pieces of wood, with a couple sitting still atop a small, wooden table of sorts. "Mice? I didn't expect to see them here."

"I can't say that I did either. There's an enclosure for a _bank vole_ as well, which makes sense since it's supposed to be a woodland animal, but house mice? Definitely a surprise. They're still kinda cute, though." _She's quite similar to Yukino-san, in a way… Though instead of just being obsessed with cats, any cute and furry animal seems to be enough for her…_ "Ah, Sora, look! That one has some baby mice with it!" Kyou tugged on my sleeve and pointed towards a den of sorts made of straw and a piece of wood, from which a single mouse emerged, followed by four smaller ones. Given that they were already covered with fur and had their eyes open as they curiously examined their surroundings, they must have been over two weeks old.

"A family of mice, huh..." I said to myself quietly, causing Kyou to send a glance my way. "I wonder which one of these is the father..?" _Taking care of so many children alone must be hard for the mouse… I wonder… What if Haru and I have multiple children? If I'm pregnant already… I could be having twins for all I know. Heh, wouldn't that be funny._

"Say, speaking of families and… _babies…_ Have you spoken to your brother about what we discussed on Tuesday? When you said that… you would have him acting as your… _donor_." I felt myself tensing up at Kyou's question, and slowly turned to look at her.

"That? Well..." I didn't meet Kyou's eyes, instead fixating my gaze on the four baby mice as they followed their mother around the enclosure. _I really ought to tell Haru about the things I've t_ _al_ _ked about with Kyou-san, so we don't accidentally create conflicting stories…_ "I have, yes. He… is willing to do it, if it comes to that." I said and looked Kyou in the eyes again.

"And he… didn't have any objections to it?" Kyou asked hesitantly, but I simply shook my head as a reply. "Well… I guess… since you're both _okay_ with it… But, are you really going to… do that? I think I said it before, but… since you two are so closely related..." Kyou trailed off and bit her lip.

"It's a risk I'll have to take. But, I also remember you saying how much medicine has advanced in the past five years. Who is to say that the child wouldn't be perfectly healthy?" _Hideki agreed with it as well, back when we first discussed this._

"I… guess you're right..." Kyou replied and paused for a moment. "You're… really defending this idea, aren't you?" A slight feeling of dread suddenly appeared in me. _Did I say too much?_

"A-am I? Well… It's just… I've thought about it, and it really feels like the only way… O-of course, nothing is certain yet, other than the fact that I want a child, and want to raise it together with Haru..." _I feel like I need to divert the conversation away, lest I slip something… Oh, of course!_ "Oh, speaking of that… I actually… wanted to talk to you about that, Kyou-san." I took a step backwards, towards the exit of the animal house, in order to signal to Kyou that we should continue with our tour of the Wildlife park.

"About… raising the child?" Kyou asked and raised an eyebrow as she took a step towards me, and I nodded to her as a reply.

"Yes. You're the only person I could ask this from, so… I wanted to learn some things from you about how I… _we_ could raise the child properly. So, will you… teach me?" I asked and held out my hand.

"Well… I mean… of course I will, Sora." Kyou said with a smile as she took my hand, and I returned the smile to her. "If you're going to be a mother one day, – ignoring how you would go about doing that, as it isn't important right now – I'll have to do my best to educate you. Although… I only have experience with Ushio, and I only really became her mom recently..." Kyou let out an awkward laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. As I looked at the older woman in front of me, I felt a warm feeling welling up in my chest, and the softness of her hand holding onto mine felt like the most natural thing in the world. _The last time I've felt something like this… was with mother._

"That's fine, Kyou-san. You're… You're the best mother I know, and..." I hesitated for a moment. _What I'm about to say… Do I really feel that way?_ I looked Kyou in the eyes as she waited for me to finish, seeing something within her purple orbs, something that _pulled_ me towards it. _I definitely do._ "...I honestly wish I could have a mother like you." Kyou's eyes widened, and I could feel her grip on my hand tightening a little.

"Sora… _Ahem_. I… _Arigatou_. That's… very kind of you." Kyou paused again as she smiled at me, and I swear I could see her trying to resist an urge of some kind. "Anyway, you want some tips on how to be a good mother?" I nodded to Kyou with a smile as we began to make our way out of the animal house. "Alright, well… Let me think for a moment..."

As we walked out of the building, I glanced back inside over my shoulder, just about seeing the mice enclosure, where one of the baby mice was pressing its nose against the glass, while its mother was herding its siblings around. I felt my smile growing as I gripped onto Kyou's hand and let my free hand wander over to my lower stomach. _Kyou really does feel like a mother for me… I hope that one day, we can be honest with her, so that we can be a_ real _family._

* * *

" _Please, be honest._ "

I stared deep into the icy blue eyes of Yukinoshita Yukino, and the raven-haired girl stared back at me with an expression that was both deadly serious and pleading at the same time. Our relationship with her had started on a bad note, but we managed to salvage the situation and become friends with her, to the point where she had trusted us with her biggest secret – the truth about the relationship between her, Hikigaya Hachiman, and Miura Yumiko. We – and more importantly, _Sora_ – had managed to become good friends with the two Chiba girls, and while I wouldn't (or rather, Hikigaya himself wouldn't) call what we had with Hikigaya as "friendship", it was still _something_. And now, I felt like no matter what I said next…

All of that would just go down the drain instantly.

"I… well..." I began, but didn't know what to say. _She said that she was '_ _fairly certain' already…_

"Please, Kasugano-kun. I want to hear your honest answer." Yukinoshita pleaded. "I promise I won't get angry."

"You… you won't?" Yukinoshita nodded to me, and I averted my gaze from her. _What should I do… I feel like something like this should be done with both me and Sora present, but… If I say I want to do it with her being here with me, that would pretty much be the same as telling her the truth…_ _I don't really have a lot of choices right now, so…_ "Yukinoshita-san… I'm sorry. You are… _correct_ in believing that we haven't been… _entirely truthful_ with you. And as for the relationship between myself and Sora… We are… _more_ than just siblings." I admitted to Yukinoshita, who directed her gaze downwards, and I saw her clenching one of her fists.

"Why… Why did you go to such lengths to lie to me, when I already knew the truth?" Yukinoshita said quietly, keeping her gaze to the ground.

"We… We wanted to be on good terms with you. I especially for… for Sora's sake." Yukinoshita slowly raised her gaze to meet mine, her expression now slightly puzzled. "Sora, she… she can be quite antisocial, always has been, I think. And with her personality, she's never had that many friends. But, ever since we came on this holiday together, and even some time before that… She's begun to change. She's _opening up_ more than she used to, and when we met you… I thought that Sora could try being friends with you. And now that I've seen her interacting with you and Yumiko-san… She was truly happy. But… you couldn't accept our relationship, so we had to keep it a secret from you." I explained to Yukinoshita. _But if that happiness is now gone… Sora will be friendless again…_

"..." Yukinoshita looked away from me again, and I could clearly see that she was hurt. I didn't blame her, though. The people she trusted so much had been lying to her, I would be hurt as well. "Do… Miura-san and Hikigaya-kun know?" Yukinoshita then asked, not even turning to look at me.

"Yes, they do. Out of all the people here, they're the only ones who do. Well, apart from you, I guess. They… accepted mine and Sora's relationship, and worked with us to keep it secret from you. I'm… sorry, again." I saw Yukinoshita's fist clenching again, but she kept quiet.

"Of course that siscon would be okay with something so… _perverted_. But Miura-san as well..? Nevermind. You… said that the way you act has… _'raised the flags_ ' of other girls in the past, so… If you had your chances, why would you… go with your _sister_?" I could tell it was hard for Yukinoshita to speak about this, as if the mere _idea_ disgusted her. Although, we did already kind of know that to be the case.

"I don't know how much Sora or Hikigaya may have told you abut our past, if at all, but… We've gone through a lot, Sora and I. More recently, our parents passed away, and before that, our grandparents. But… it all goes back to our childhood, I believe. Back when Sora had to spend long periods of time at the hospital, away from home. When she could finally return home… I didn't see her as just a sister any more. She was… a _girl_ , someone who I felt like I had to protect, someone I could _love_. And my love for Sora resurfaced recently when… Well, when I _tried_ my chances with another girl. You see, for a brief period of time… I did actually have a girlfriend. Her name was Yorihime Nao, and she is a childhood friend of ours. But, as I dated her… as I spent time with her… I realized just how much I loved Sora, not as a sister… but as woman." I could feel a smile growing on my face for a brief moment, but it was soon gone. "You… may see our love as _wrong_ , or _perverted_ , but… It isn't any different from any other kind of love. Sora and I… we just happened to fall in love with each other due to our circumstances. If… If things had gone differently… I could be on this holiday with another girl. So please, Yukinoshita-san..." I reached out towards the raven-haired girl and took her hands into my own, expecting her to recoil back in disgust, but she stayed still as she looked directly into my eyes. "It's a lot to ask, but please, try to look past mine and Sora's relation, and just see us as a young couple in love. For Sora's sake. She… She values the _friendship_ she has with Miura-san and you, I can tell, and I would hate to have it crumble away like this." I bowed my head as I held onto Yukinoshita's hands, shutting my eyes.

"...You really are asking for something utterly preposterous..." Yukinoshita said with a sigh and freed her hands from mine. "Still, I promised I wouldn't get angry at you..." I opened my eyes and slowly lifted my head, being with Yukinoshita gently massaging her temple with her eyes closed. "You do realize that what you're doing is frowned upon, and seen is disgusting and immoral in most human societies on Earth? It's even illegal in most places."

"Yes, we do. But we don't care, as long as we have each other."

"And this 'love' of yours doesn't just stem from some perverted fantasy or fetish, that you aren't just a _siscon_?" Yukinoshita moved her hand away from her temple, but kept her eyes closed.

"No. Sora and I truly love each other. What is so wrong about two people in love?"

"It… well… Nothing is _wrong_ with that, of course, but… When the person you're in love with is so closely related to you… It's immoral." Yukinoshita hesitated slightly with her answer, and didn't meet my gaze even after opening her eyes.

"That's just what _society_ thinks. But… we're all our own individuals, no? We don't _have to_ follow along with what society deems right and wrong, we don't _have to_ change ourselves to fit into society's mould. We are… individuals, with our own thoughts and values. Yukinoshita-san, do you… do you really dislike mine and Sora's relationship so much on a personal, _individual_ level, or do you just think it's immoral because society thinks so?" Yukinoshita's eyes flicked to me for a moment, and she bit her lip. _Am I… getting through to her? No, I know what she was like before,_ _it can't be this easy…_

"...You're sounding a lot like Hachi..." Yukinoshita mumbled quietly, but just loud enough for me to hear, then let out a sigh. "I… I need time to think. I also need to speak with Hikigaya-kun and Miura-san about this. Just… right now, I don't know what to think. On one hand, I'm terribly hurt that you two lied to me all this time, but I also understand why you did such a thing, and. Then there's your relationship with your sister… I don't want to talk about this right now." Yukinoshita took a deep breath and looked me in the eyes again. "For the remainder of today, I'll ignore everything we've talked about, and push this out of my mind, so it doesn't affect our sightseeing, alright?"

"O-okay..." I replied, not really knowing what to say. _I… think I got through to her, but that doesn't guarantee that she's accepted the whole thing…_

"Good. We… we'll talk about this later today, but for now, let's continue with our tour of this place, shall we?" I nodded to Yukinoshita as a reply.

After that, we continued along with our tour of the Santa Claus Village. Yukinoshita kept to her word, not mentioning our prior conversation and acting as she had before. Despite this, I could feel a _tension_ in our interactions, and I could tell that while she was trying her hardest, Yukinoshita wasn't quote comfortable being with me now that she knew the truth. I hoped that things would work out and Yukinoshita could find it within herself to accept mine and Sora's relationship, but every time our eyes met and Yukinoshita averted her gaze from me immediately, I felt more and more like that was just wishful thinking.

After about an hour or so, we found ourselves sitting at a table in a restaurant, waiting for our food to arrive. We had gone around the holiday village in a clockwise fashion, and found ourselves hungry after visiting nearly everything the place had to offer. We even managed to go visit the huskies, though Yukinoshita kept a safe distance between herself and the canines. Once again, though, I felt like we couldn't enjoy ourselves to the fullest, as the tension between us kept us from interacting normally. _I guess they do say that ignorance is bliss…_ I let out a little sigh and looked over at the girl sitting opposite to me. We hadn't talked after arriving at the restaurant, other than when we made our orders, and Yukinoshita seemed to be emptily staring into the glass of water she had, as if trying to freeze the liquid within it with her gaze. _This silence is just too awkward… I need to break it somehow…_

"Yukinoshita-san..." I began to get the girl's attention to me, – which seemingly worked, as Yukinoshita raised her gaze to meet mine – but didn't really know how to follow it up. _Come on, Haruka, think. You're the more social one of the Kasugano siblings, and you can't even figure out anything to talk about with Yukinoshita-san! Think… In a restaurant with Yukinoshita-san... Siblings…_ As I looked at Yukinoshita, a memory of last Sunday came to mind, when – with the help of Hikigaya – we managed to trick Yukinoshita into believing Sora and I had a normal sibling relationship. "Your… sister. Hikigaya mentioned that you have a sister, back in that restaurant we ate at on Sunday. What… is she like?" Yukinoshita stared at me for a few moments, then closed her eyes as she lightly massaged her temple.

" _That_ was the best you could come up with? Very well. I'm usually not one for idle, meaningless chatter, but I know that you're much more of social person than your sister is, and if it helps me get my mind off _certain things_..." _She must have been thinking about this whole thing with me and Sora the entire time… Which might explain why she was so tense and_ unnatural _with her interactions._ " _Ahem_. Yes, I do have a sister, Yukinoshita Haruno. She is three years my elder, and is currently studying in Tokyo University – thankfully, as I don't know how I would manage if Nee-san went to Chiba Uni, where the three of us study."

"Yes, Hikigaya did say that… your own relationship with her may not be… the best. If you don't mind… Could you elaborate on that?" I asked and took a sip from my own glass of water.

"No point in hiding it. One could say that… she is my polar opposite. Warm, cheerful, extroverted – the perfect people person. But that is all a facade. In truth, she is cruel, manipulative, and will do anything for her own amusement. When I was younger, I aspired to be like her, but as I grew older… I realized what kind of person she truly was. She has meddled in my life far too many times, especially with things concerning Hikigaya-kun, and I've grown tired of her over the years. Despite all that, however… She is quite an important figure in our life." Yukinoshita paused for a moment and glanced around the restaurant, before leaning closer and continuing with a lower tone. "I told you yesterday that it is of utmost importance that my family doesn't find out about the… _three-way_ relationship Hikigaya-kun has with Miura-san and myself, and that my family believes that I am happily together with Hikigaya-kun, yes?" I nodded to Yukinoshita. _She did say something like that, but didn't tell us why that was the case._ "Nee-san is important, because she… _supports_ my relationship with Hikigaya-kun, and prevents my parents from doing anything to separate us." Yukinoshita glanced around again briefly, before looking back at me again.

"Um… I'm not quite sure I follow..." I said and awkwardly scratched my cheek. Yukinoshita pondered something for a moment, but before she could reply, our food was brought to us. I had ordered Karelian meat stew **[4]** , while Yukinoshita had gotten her self chicken with goat cheese with some chocolate mousse as a dessert. _Everything looks so tasty… Maybe I should have ordered some mousse as well._

"I can explain briefly as we are eating. _Itadakimasu_." Yukinoshita said and placed her hands together in a prayer-like pose.

" _Itadakimasu_." I said and mimicked her pose, then began to dig into my meal. Yukinoshita cut herself a piece of chicken and placed it in her mouth, as if testing the taste, before swallowing and taking a sip of water. Even the way she ate seemed elegant in a way.

"Right, how should I explain it… We, the Yukinoshitas, are quite a… _prestigious_ family, if you hadn't guessed. My father is a member of the Chiba Diet, and we have many different businesses and holdings both within the city and outside of it." Yukinoshita began her explanation and took another piece of chicken, pausing as she chewed on it. "As such, we hold ourselves in high regard, and for good reason. Though my Mother is the most haughty in our family. She is also very… _old-fashioned_ , believing in things such as 'family over personal values' and arranged marriages." _I think I can see where this is going now…_ "You can imagine what her reaction was when I made it public that I was dating Hikigaya-kun." I finished chewing on a piece of meat and took a swig from my glass as Yukinoshita cut into her chicken again.

"I… can imagine, yes. I'll assume she didn't take it lightly?" Yukinoshita shook her head as she chewed. "So, what does your sister have to do with this? And how is publicly dating Hikigaya important when 'concerning your family' if they don't… _fully approve_ of it?"

"My sister is important, since as the oldest sibling, she has at least _some_ influence in family matters. She very openly supports my relationship with Hikigaya-kun, and in turn opposes any potential arranged marriages that my mother would come up with. She has also been very helpful in managing to sway my father more towards my side, though he hasn't outright said if he supports my current relationship or not." Yukinoshita paused again as she placed another piece of chicken into her mouth. _I think I'm starting to get the picture. Yukinoshita-san obviously doesn't want to get married against her will to someone she couldn't love, and her sister is helping with that by supporting her relationship with Hikigaya. And if her family ever found out that Hikigaya is in a relationship not only with Yukinoshita-san, but also with Yumiko-san… It definitely wouldn't be a good thing._ "As for your second question… Well, what I'm about to say is _highly confidential_ information." Yukinoshita glanced around again, and leaned closer, stray strands of her hair threatening to take a dip into her meal. "I don't fully agree with my family on many things, especially with my mother. A year or two ago, I wouldn't have dared to think going against her, but now? I am more than willing to leave the Yukinoshitas behind, if only to keep my mother from manipulating my life as she wishes. As long as I'm publicly dating Hikigaya, I'm opposing my family – my mother knows this. As long as that is the case, my mother won't dare to make a move against me, and it's also crucial as the first step in my plans." As Yukinoshita finished, I suddenly felt a vibration coming from my pocket, which made me jump a little.

"Sorry, that must be my phone." I said and reached out into my pocket, taking out the device and looking at who was calling me. "Hideki? Hold on, this might be important. I'll… go answer it." Yukinoshita nodded to me as I stood up, then began to make my way over to the toilets, which I figured would be a secluded enough place for me to have a private conversation without disturbing anyone. _I wonder why Hideki is calling, though. Could he just be asking how things are going?_

"Hideki! What's up?" I answered the phone as I came up to the toilets – both of which were occupied – and leaned on the wall next to the women's toilet.

"Ah, Haruka! I thought you might have still been in bed, since you weren't answering." Hideki replied to me with a chuckle.

"No, I'm very much awake. I was having lunch with someone, so I had to go and find a quiet place to answer your call." I replied.

"With ' _someone_ '? So you're not with Sora, then?"

"No, I'm not. I'm currently eating together with Yukinoshita Yukino, one of the other tourists who are 'working' with your friend, Harri. He had us split up into random pairs today, and I got assigned with Yukinoshita-san. We're at the Santa Claus Village at the moment." As I finished, I heard some shuffling from the women's bathroom, so I moved to the side a little, expecting someone to come out of it soon.

"Ah, I see how it is. That name, though… Yukinoshita… It rings a bell, definitely, though I can't quite place my finger on it." I heard some more shuffling from the bathroom, this time a little more frantic.

"The Yukinoshitas are an important name in Chiba, apparently. The girl I'm with is the youngest of two daughters, and her father is a member of the Chiba Diet. They also own many business in and around the prefecture." As I finished, the door of the women's bathroom burst open, and a well-dressed young woman with shoulder-length black hair – not unlike Yukinoshita's, but a bit lighter – with a tinge of purple at the ends walked out of it, a handbag in one hand and a suitcase in the other. Her rose-coloured eyes scanned her surroundings, until they locked onto mine, causing her to freeze in place. _She looks Japanese, though with her looks, she would definitely stand out amongst a crowd…_ I gave the woman a quick smile, then returned my attention to the phone call. "Anyway, Hideki. Is there a reason as to why you called me? Or are you just curious as to how Sora and I are doing?" The woman didn't move at all, and kept her gaze fixated on me. _What's her deal, then?_

"Oh, yes, there is a reason as to why I called you. I wanted to let you know that I'll be coming over there this weekend. I managed to make some space in my schedule, and wanted to come and see you kids again. Also, I haven't met Harri in a while, so it'll be good to see him again. And meet the other Japanese tourists there as well."

"Well, that's good to hear. You'll definitely like Tomoya-san, and maybe you'll be able to find some common ground with Mikami-san as well, who knows. Oh, and guess what! That couple we saw back in Oulu? They're here as well. Turns out, the girl back then was Yukinoshita-san, go figure." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the black-haired woman's eyes widening a little at the mention of the name 'Yukinoshita', but I didn't pay much attention to it.

"Well, isn't that a coincidence! You're making me quite excited about coming there, Haruka. You'll have to introduce me to everyone there."

"I will, don't worry. If… that's all, I guess I'll see you… tomorrow?"

"Most likely. I'll be there tomorrow evening, if you kids are still awake at that time – and not doing something… _together_." I felt a slight blush rising to my cheeks at Hideki's implications, but shook my head to clear it away.

"We'll see. Oh, and I don't think I have to tell you this, but..." I glanced towards the woman still standing next to me, motionless, then covered my mouth and the speaker with my free hand. "...No-one here knows about me and Sora, except for… Well, we'll talk about that when you get here."

"Alright, not a problem. See you tomorrow, Haruka!"

"Yeah, see you!" Hideki ended the call, and I lowered my phone away from my ear, then turned to look at the black-haired woman currently eyeing me up. "So… Can I help you? You've kind of been staring at me..." I said as I pocketed my phone and rubbed the back of my neck with my other hand. _Now that I get a good look at her… She is quite beautiful. Almost like Yukinoshita-san._ For a brief moment, I swear I saw a glint in her eyes as her mouth curved into a slight smile.

"Not really, no." The woman replied to me in Japanese, confirming that she was indeed Japanese – or at least Asian and fluent in the language. "I just couldn't help but _overhear_ a part of your conversation just now as I was in the ladies'." The woman took a step towards me leaned closer to me, the scent of her perfume invading my nostrils. _That's quite strong… Something expensive?_ "I heard you mentioning a particular name a few times… One _Yukinoshita Yukino_?"

"Um, yes, I did. I'm… having lunch with her here right now, and told about it to my… _friend_ on the phone. Why do you ask?" The woman narrowed her eyes a little, then placed a hand on my shoulder, while leaning even closer to me.

"You're having lunch with her? Here?" I nodded to the woman as a reply while her breath tickled my face. _Does she… know Yukinoshita-san?_ "Show me. I want to see her." She pulled away from me and let go of my shoulder, looking at me expectantly.

"Uh, alright. We're just in the middle of our meals, so..." I rubbed the back of my neck again, then turned around and started to walk back towards our table. _I definitely get the feeling that she knows who Yukinoshita-san is… But what's her relation to her?_ "Yukinoshita-san! I met someone who wanted to see you." I called out to Yukinoshita as we came up to her table, and she cleaned her mouth with a napkin before turning around to face us. As soon as she did, her eyes widened and she froze in place as her jaw was left hanging.

"Oh, so it was you, Yukino-chan! Yahhallo!" The woman next to me said as she walked up to Yukinoshita, placed her handbag on the table and her suitcase on the floor, before she enveloped Yukinoshita in a sudden hug.

"Nee...san..?"

* * *

 **AN: And that's a wrap! Sorry again for the big delay on this chapter, even after I promised you lot it wouldn't take this long. I had really hoped I could finish two of my stories this summer – excluding this one, of course – and start working on my new story, but right now, it seems like that's not going to happen. Unless I chug out about five chapters next week, which is definitely not happening. Oh well, I only have myself and my incompetence to blame.**

 **These next couple of chapters will probably be a bit slower in terms of story progression, but with the way I've been doing things, that cannot be avoided. And now there's another new character to mix things up – and mix things up she will, as meddling in other people's affairs is a Yukinoshita Haruno specialty ;)**

 **[1]: tanchōzuru = red-crowned crane (also known as "Japanese crane"), an endangered East-Asian crane. It's among the largest cranes, on average around 20 cm taller than the common/Eurasian crane. Usually found in China, Siberia and Korea, but a population exists in eastern Hokkaidō, the second-largest of the Japanese islands.**

 **[2]: mujina = Japanese badger, also known by the name " _nihonanaguma_ ", which means literally "Japan hole-bear". Also sounds funny to say it.**

 **[3]: The Japanese word for "weasel". In this context, Kyou would specifically be talking about the Japanese weasel, a mustelid native to – you guessed it – Japan. Their tails can make up nearly half of their body length, and their fur is a nice orange-brown colour. Very cute animals.**

 **[4] A traditional Finnish food, originating from Karelia in eastern Finland, known as " _karjalanpaisti_ " (literally "karelia's roast") in Finnish. The stew contains two types of meat, pork and beef, sometimes lamb, along with a mix of vegetables such as carrot and onion. It's cooked in a pot placed within an oven and seasoned with black pepper and salt. Quite tasty, though because I'm a picky eater and dislike cooked vegetables (Don't hurt me, I still eat them uncooked, and prefer them that way), I don't eat it that often.**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Hello again, readers! Your numbers have simply skyrocketed on , and given the kind words I have received from many of you in the form of reviews, I must be doing something right, lol. Summer vacation has ended, but I'll still have plenty of time to write during this semester, as acting as a tech support for teachers who don't even know what _ctrl + c_ does isn't really that hard of a job – but it is tedious.**

 **Now, let's get back into the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 14 – Releasing Tension**

"Sooooo, Yukino-chan? Any reason why you're here with a boy who is _not_ Hikigaya-kun, hm? Don't tell me that you're cheating on him. Your big sis would be _very_ disappointed if you were~!"

"Nee-san… It's not like that..."

The black-haired girl sitting opposite to me sighed in exasperation as she massaged her temple, the older woman sitting next to her continuously poking her sides. _I can see what Yukinoshita-san meant_ _w_ _hen she said_ _her relationship with her older sister_ _was not_ _the greatest…_

As it had turned out, the woman who had accidentally "eavesdropped" on my phone call with Hideki was none other than Yukinoshita Haruno, oldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family, and older sibling of the raven-haired beauty sitting down opposite to me. After a brief introduction between me and her, she had sat down at our table and began to pester her younger sister about her time here in Finland – much to said younger sister's chagrin.

"Reeeeaaaally? But here I thought you two lovebirds were inseparable after you hooked up. What gives? Was it the looks? I will admit, I won't blame you for choosing this _handsome_ silver fox, though he does remind me a little too much about Hayato…" The older Yukinoshita sibling narrowed her eyes as she looked towards me, bringing her hand to her chin in a thinking pose. _Didn't_ _Miura_ _-san also compare me to a 'silver fox'?_ _I guess it must be my hair…_

"Stop spouting nonsense, Nee-san. You of all people should know that I wouldn't give up Hikigaya-kun for anyone else." Yukinoshita replied to her sister, then began to explain our 'objective' here thoroughly. "Hikigaya-kun, Miura-san and myself are currently helping a Finnish tourist guide named Harri with a project of his, the point of which is to up the quality of the experience tourists – especially Japanese tourists – have when travelling to Finland. Along with the three of us, there are a few other tourists helping Harri with his endeavour, including Kasugano-kun here. For today, we were split into pairs and sent to various tourist attractions in and around the city, and I ended up with Kasugano-kun." Yukinoshita's sister eyed the two of us for a few moments, then nodded to her younger sister. "Now, a more _pressing_ matter would be… _Why_ are _you_ here, Nee-san? I thought Mother had you occupied for the entirety of August, so you wouldn't even have a chance at going on vacation." Yukinoshita then continued in a colder tone.

" _Mou_ , don't be like that, Yukino-chan~! Would you believe me if I said that I just missed my dear, cute younger sister so much that I wanted to see her again?" Yukinoshita narrowed her eyes at her older sister as she paused and tilted her head in a cutesy way. _I'm going to guess that's a no…_ Yukinoshita Haruno sighed after a few moments, then continued in a more serious tone, her expression also changing in an instant from cheerful and playful to deadly serious. "In truth, Mother sent me here to keep an eye on you, Yukino-chan. She doesn't trust you, and you know that she still opposes you being engaged with Hikigaya-kun." Yukinoshita lowered her gaze down to her food, which she hadn't touched at all since her sister had appeared. _Though, I haven't eaten much myself either. I suddenly almost feel like a 'third wheel', observing this situation…_ "But, you can at least count on your big sis to support you~! And, I get a free vacation, so I'd say everything worked out splendidly." In an instant, Yukinoshita's sister was back to her previous self as she tried to hug her younger sibling, but Yukinoshita leaned away from her.

"Well, I would sincerely hope that you cease from causing too much trouble while you're here, Nee-san." Yukinoshita said and picked up her utensils again. "Now, if you don't mind, Kasugano-kun and I were in the middle of eating, so if you could keep it down, I would appreciate it."

"Ooo, that's a good idea! I haven't eaten anything after landing here, and I'm _starving_." Yukinoshita Haruno glanced around the restaurant for a moment, then called over a waiter as soon as she spotted one.

I returned to my food as well, but couldn't keep my gaze away from the Yukinoshita siblings. Now that they were sitting next to each other, I could clearly see the resemblance in the two pretty ladies, though their personalities seemed to be polar opposites. _It must be hard for a quiet girl like Yukinoshita-san to have an overly energetic older sister…_ _And if what she said about her older sister's personality is true… It's understandable why they wouldn't get along._ After the elder Yukinoshita finished ordering her meal, she shifted her gaze to me and eyed me up for a few moments.

"Hmmm… Kasugano-kun, was it?" The older woman spoke, meeting my eyes with her own.

"Um, yes. Kasugano Haruka, as I said before. What is it… Yukinoshita-san?" I glanced at the younger Yukinoshita opposite to me, but she seemed to be aware that I was talking with her older sister rather than her. _This might get a little confusing, if she's going to stay around…_

"You can call me Haruno-san. Wouldn't want to get the two of us confused, now would you?" The older woman nudged her younger sibling, who in turn shot a cold glare towards her. "Anyway, you seem to have had your eye on Yukino-chan here for a while now, but I'll warn you, she's taken already!"

"O-oh, It's… not like that, _Haruno-san_." Very briefly, I saw the older woman's smile drop ever so slightly when I used her first name like she had asked me to, but it quickly returned to its former splendour. "I'm quite aware of the relationship your younger sister has with Hikigaya, and I'm… _not interested_ in Yukinoshita-san in that way."

"Hmmm… I guess if you say so. You did also mention someone called ' _Sora_ ' in your phone call earlier – sorry about that, by the way, I couldn't help but listen in after you mentioned our family name. But, anyway, who is this _Sora_ , then? Someone you came here on vacation with? A _lover_ , perhaps?" Both Yukinoshita and I froze as Haruno questioned me about my relationship with Sora, which was not left unnoticed by the older woman. _I guess technically she hit the nail on the head with that one… But we can't have her knowing about that._

"Um… No, Sora is… my twin sister." I replied to Haruno and scratched my cheek awkwardly, while Yukinoshita stood up from her seat suddenly,

"My apologies, I must go to the bathroom. I will be right back." Yukinoshita said and sent me a cold glance, then began to make her way towards the bathrooms. _Something tells me that she didn't_ really _have to go to the bathroom…_ Haruno narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched her younger sister leave us, then turned back to me, a slight _glint_ now visible in her eyes.

"Twin sister, huh? Well, that doesn't prevent her from being your _lover_ as well, now does it?" Haruno leaned closer to me over the table as she looked into my eyes, her well-proportioned, porcelain face akin to a _mask_ , with her expression frozen into a permanent smile. _If_ _she really is as manipulative as Yukinoshita-san said_ _… She must have practised that expression a lot…_ Before I could reply anything to her, we were interrupted by the waiter bringing Haruno her meal. " _Thank you!_ " She said to the waitress in English, flashing a bright smile at the young man. Haruno had chosen the same dish as her younger sister, and began to dig into it immediately. "This is good! Yukino-chan's tastes are great as always. Oh, and I was joking with that just now, don't worry." She then said to me with a wink, and I let out an awkward laugh as I returned to my meal as well. _She says that, but… I can't help_ _this feeling of_ dread _growing inside of me… There is definitely more to Yukinoshita Haruno than meets the eye._ Shortly afterwards, Yukinoshita returned to the table and sat down, not meeting my gaze with her eyes. Her older sister stopped eating to observe her for a few moments, her gaze flicking over to me every now and then.

"What is it, Nee-san? If you have something to say, say it." Yukinoshita said to her older sister coldly.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Haruno said and returned to her food, while her younger sister narrowed her eyes, but returned to her own food shortly as well. " _Haruka_ , huh… _Distant_... And your sister was _Sora_ , right?" Haruno suddenly asked, turning to face me, and I nodded to her as an answer as I ate. " _Haruka_ and _Sora…_ So the ' _haru_ ' in your name must be read as… ' _clear weather_ '? Since your sister's name is read as ' _sky_ '?"

"That's right." I replied after swallowing. "Though ' _haru_ ' can also be read as ' _spring_ ', I'm fairly certain that… our parents named us with that reading in mind. Your name... also has ' _haru_ ' in it. Is that why you're… interested?"

"I was just curious. ' _Distant Sky_ '... They're good names for twins **[1]**. But, speaking of my name… Can you guess what the ' _haru_ ' in my name means?" Haruno pointed towards me with a fork, and I could see that her younger sister was keeping an eye on our conversation, though she was trying to hide it.

"Hmmm… Let me think for a moment..." I placed my fork down for a moment and began to think. _Her family name, '_ Yukinoshita _'_ _means '_ below the snow _', which_ _would make Yukinoshita Yukino '_ snow from below the snow _', so Haruno-san must be…_ "...' _Spring from below the snow_ '?" I said out loud. _That's my best guess, and it makes sense as well. Though, without knowing how it's written in her name, I can't be sure._

"Good guess, though a bit wrong." Haruno placed her utensils on her plate and lifted her left hand, then began to draw on her palm with her right hand. _She's writing kanji…_

"' _Light from below the snow_ '?" Haruno nodded to me and picked up her utensils again.

"Correct! A good name for someone like me, wouldn't you say?" Haruno gave me a wink and cut into her chicken, while a quiet sigh escaped from Yukinoshita's lips.

"How long are you going to spend here, Nee-san? And where are you going to stay if you're supposed to 'keep an eye on me'?" Yukinoshita asked from her older sister. _She really doesn't like her older sister being around… I wonder how_ _Miura_ _-san and Hikigaya will react if Haruno-san stays here?_

"How many breads have you eaten in your life?" Haruno asked in turn, tilting her head slightly. _Wait a moment… Did she just…_ "I jest, of course." Haruno then said quickly and sent a glance in my direction. "Mother wanted me to stay here as long as needed, so… I'll be returning to Japan together with you when your vacation is over. As for where I'm staying… I haven't made plans yet, but… Where are you staying, Yukino-chan?" Yukinoshita tensed up at her older sister's question, her fork freezing in place as she was about to place a piece of chicken into her mouth.

"...Why should I tell you that? You're perfectly capable of finding your own place for the night." Yukinoshita replied and continued eating, not even looking towards her older sister.

"Don't be so cold, Yukino-chan! But, if you're not going to tell me..." Haruno shifted her gaze to me, a slight grin on her face as she leaned forwards and rested her chin on her hands, her forearms pressing against either side of her sizeable breasts. "...Then maybe Kasugano-kun here will? Right, Kasugano-kun? Or should I call you _Haruka_? Then we'd be on a _first-name basis_ with each other." I looked away from Haruno, and met the cold gaze of her younger sister. _While we aren't on the best terms currently… She_ _does believe that Sora and I are trustworthy. And I'm going to stand by that._

"Erm… Haru is just fine, Haruno-san. It's… what my friends call me. And as for where we're staying… Well, I don't think it's my place to say that." I saw Yukinoshita relax her shoulders a little, while her older sister simply stared back at me blankly for a few moments, then let out a sigh as she sat back in her chair properly.

"What have you been telling him, Yukino-chan..." Haruno said quietly, then picked up her utensils again. "Well, no matter. I already know you're staying at he hotel by the _Lu_ _m_ _berjack's Candle Bridge_. What was it called… _Pohjanhovi_? Something like that." Yukinoshita began to cough as she nearly choked on her food, having heard what her sister had just said. _If she already knew, then why would she bother asking..?_ "Though, I am hurt that you didn't tell me that, _Haru_. Perhaps you _do_ fancy Yukino-chan, hmm?"

"That's… Quite enough, Nee-san." Yukinoshita said after she swallowed down her food with the help of a glass of water. "I would like for us to finish our meals, so we can move on with our sightseeing and then return to our hotel. Right, Kasugano-kun?" Yukinoshita looked towards me, and something in the look in her eyes told me _exactly_ why she wanted to return to the hotel.

"Um, yes, of course. It'll be… good to see Sora again as well, and… _talk_ with her. If she's there already, that is." Yukinoshita furrowed her brows a little as I mentioned my sister, but gave me a small nod as a reply.

"Hmmm… Well, we don't have to sit here and _just_ eat. I'm definitely curious about you, _Haru_. There's something… _more_ to you than what you've told and what I can see. You're not just another _boring_ 'pretty boy' like Hayato..." _There's that name again… 'Hayato'… Someone they know?_ "You won't mind if I ask some questions, do you? I'd like to get to know you better."

"Well… I guess there's no harm in some light chatting while we eat." I replied to the older woman, whose eyes seemed get a new glint in them, while her younger sister let out another small sigh.

I soon found out that Haruno's understanding of "light chatting" was quite different from mine or Yukinoshita's. Either that, or she was purposefully asking me about – almost literally – _everything_. And what could I have done but answer her questions? While I obviously left out some… _key details_ surrounding mine and Sora's exact relationship, I did tell Haruno about our family situation and how Sora and I had promised to stay together, since we had no other family left – at least not _close_ family. Haruno expressed her sympathy towards me when I told her about our parents, but I could tell that something was… _off_ , like it wasn't _genuine_. And every now and then, I could spot that Haruno seemed almost _bored_ to be listening to me, despite the fact that she herself had been the one to ask in the first place. The _glint_ she had in her eyes never left, though, as if there was something that was keeping her interested in what I told her. _She said that I wasn't just another "boring pretty boy", whatever that meant… There's no way Haruno-san knows about my relationship with Sora, but I'm fairly certain she knows that I'm not telling her everything. Yukinoshita-san's reactions earlier haven't helped much either… Speaking of her…_ As I was telling Haruno more about my sister, I glanced over at Yukinoshita, who was currently quietly enjoying her chocolate mousse. _She's been awfully quiet this whole time… Could… Could me telling Haruno-san everything Sora and I have gone through have caused her to_ rethink _our "situation"? Certainly, she's a smart girl, and could probably fill in the blanks in my story due to the fact that she knows what's really going on between Sora and I… Well, that might just be wishful thinking. Yukinoshita-san isn't one for idle chatter anyway, unlike her older sister. But… If hearing about everything again has even_ slightly _helped with the possibility of her accepting mine and Sora's relationship…_

 _I'_ _ll take it._

Before long, we had finished our meals, and after paying for them, we found ourselves making our way outside. I had already forgotten how hot it was outside today, but the sun blaring down on us was more than enough to remind me of it. _I hadn't really noticed it before, but I guess it can get quite hot here in the summer, even at these latitudes. I should have brought my sunglasses with me…_ I thought as I gazed upwards at the sky, shielding my eyes from the sun with my hand while Yukinoshita fetched her own pair of sunglasses from her bag.

"That was some good food… I might try to learn that dish." Haruno said and stretched as we stopped. "So, where to next? Have you already planned out where you want to go, Yukino-chan?" She then asked, turning to her sister.

"It seems that you are under the assumption that you are coming with us, Nee-san." Yukinoshita replied to her sister and pulled out her phone to check the time.

"And? Yukino-chan, you can't mean… You're going to leave me here and have fun with Haru on your own? That's no fair! I want to make the most out of this vacation as well!" Haruno crossed her arms and pouted, then shifted her gaze over to me, a slight smirk appearing on her face. "Come on, Haru! You wouldn't leave a _lady_ alone like this, right? Would you deny me the fun of going sightseeing with my cute little sister?" Haruno reached out with her hand and placed it on my shoulder as she looked into my eyes with a pleading look.

"I… well..." I looked towards Yukinoshita, who pocketed her phone and sighed.

"It's still quite early in the day, and we would be best off trying to find something to do for at least two hours before returning." Yukinoshita said and took out the notebook she had been writing things in. "You can stay with us, Nee-san, but _don't_ stir any trouble, or embarrass us in public, please."

" _Haaaaiiiii_. Your big sis wouldn't even _think_ of doing anything like that. Wouldn't you agree, Haru?" Haruno replied to her younger sister and turned to me, her hand on my shoulder snaking around my arm as she pressed herself against me, causing my arm to be wedged between her breasts.

"Um… O-of course, Haruno-san. But… could you… not cling onto me like that?" I said and tried to pry the older woman off me, but she tightened her hold on me instead.

"What, is it making you _embarrassed_? I thought you would _enjoy_ something like this, given that you're apparently not ' _into_ ' Yukino-chan, and you didn't mention having a _girlfriend_ at all. Both of those..." Haruno moved her face closer to mine, and I backed away from her as much as I could. "...mean that you're _free game_ for me." Haruno finished by blowing some air into my ear, and despite my best efforts, I felt my cheeks heating up. _Was that really why she was asking so many questions from me..? No, Yukinoshita-san said that her sister was manipulative… This has to be that. Right?_

 _Right?_

"Nee-san..." Yukinoshita said with a sigh as she began to massage her temple again. "This is exactly what I'm talking about. So, please..." Yukinoshita's eyes met mine – though I could barely see hers from behind her sunglasses – and she paused for a moment, hesitating with something. "...Could you let go of Kasugano-kun? He is very clearly _uncomfortable_ with your presence." Yukinoshita then continued. Haruno looked at her sister for a few moments, then shifted her gaze back to me.

"It's… As Yukinoshita-san said. So, if you could..." I said to the older woman and attempted to free myself again, this time with more success than before, as I felt Haruno's grip on my arm loosening.

"Hmmm… Well, fine." Haruno said and let go of my arm. "But just because I can't be _physical_ with you doesn't mean that you'll get rid of me that easily, _Haru_." Haruno winked at me and took a few steps forwards. "Right, let's go, then! Or were you planning on spending that two hours standing here and boiling under the sun, Yukino-chan?" Yukinoshita stood still for a few seconds, then walked past the two of us back towards the signboard we had looked at when we first arrived here.

"We still have some places to go to here, and we haven't been to any of the souvenir shops yet either, so there's still plenty to do." Yukinoshita said, and the two of us began to follow after her.

"Oooo, souvenirs? Shopping for them is always so much fun, wouldn't you say, Haru?" Haruno asked from me, but all I could offer in return was a small awkward laugh. _With Haruno-san_ _sticking around_ _with us…_

 _I feel like this is going to be a long two hours._

* * *

"Aaahhh… It's so hot..." Kyou wiped her brow of sweat as she looked around the parking lot, trying to spy Harri's black SUV from among all of the cars. "Harri said he'd be here soon… What's taking him so long?" Kyou sighed and began to fiddle with her camera, looking through all of the photographs she had taken while we were in the Wildlife Park, while I simply smiled to myself as I gazed down at the plushie I was holding, tightening my hold on it slightly.

Kyou and I had spent our day in the Ranua Zoo Wildlife Park, and it had _honestly_ been wonderful. I never expected that I would enjoy seeing all the different animals so much – especially since I wasn't together with Haru. Kyou's company had been more than adequate, though. She knew a surprising amount about the different animals here (though I suspect most of the information she got from the various signboards next to each enclosure – the ones I couldn't read fully due to them being in English) and her childlike wonder and awe towards all of them even spread to me. And, of course, the advice she had given to me about raising a child – both from the perspective of a mother _and_ a kindergarten teacher – that I had asked for was extremely valuable to me. All in all, the trip had been quite fun, but I was ready to go back to the hotel – back to _Haru_.

"Enjoying the gift I bought you?" Kyou's voice brought me back into reality from reminiscing about the animals, and I looked towards the older woman, being met with a pleasant smile and a curious gaze directed down at my hands.

"Ah… well..." I averted my gaze from Kyou, having been caught off-guard by her. "...Yes. Thank you again for it, Kyou-san." I said to her as I held onto the red fox plushie Kyou had purchased at the souvenir shop for me. _I feel kind of bad that she had to spend money on it for me, but… I didn't bring enough money with me, so I could only afford the one plushie that I bought for Yukino-san…_ I found my eyes wandering over to Kyou's backpack, as she had taken the liberty of carrying my gift for Yukino so I wouldn't have to trouble myself with two plushies. _I hope she likes it._

"Don't mention it. It's not like it was that expensive or anything, only about 1300 Yen back home. And since you ended up buying that gift for Yukinoshita… I felt that it was only fair that I buy you something." Kyou replied to me with a warm, motherly smile. _That would make more sense if I was buying the plushie for_ you _, though…_ "Oh, and by the way, Sora… I noticed this a while ago, but… That ring of yours is really pretty. Did you always have it?" Kyou pointed towards my right hand, and I lifted it up to display the silver ring on my ring finger.

"Ah, this? No. Haru… Haru bought it for me yesterday." I replied and swivelled my hand around to showcase the ring. "Is it… _weird_ that my brother would buy me a gift like this?" I then asked from Kyou, turning my head to look back at her. _If we want to_ _eventually_ _be truthful to Kyou-san_ _about our relationship, we need to 'ease' her into the idea first… Knowing her opinions on minor things like this will be first step in that._

"Hm? Well… Why would it be? I mean… The act of a boy giving a ring to a girl certainly has its implications, but… I don't see anything wrong with a brother giving a gift to his sister." Kyou replied to me with a smile.

"I see." I looked back at my hand, the silver ring reflecting the harsh sunlight off its surface. _Nothing wrong with it, huh..? I can only hope that she would think the same way_ _about my relationship with Haru…_

"I am kind of jealous, Sora. That ring is really pretty." Kyou reached out with her hand and took a hold of mine, taking a closer look at the ring. "It must have been expensive… Though, now that I look at it… It looks similar to the necklace Tomoya bought me on Tuesday." Kyou let go of my hand and lifted up the necklace she was wearing, which had been hidden just under the collar of her shirt until now. The necklace was made of silver, just like my ring, and was emblazoned with six snowflakes of various sizes fitted to make it seem like they were falling. "I bet you the two of them bought these together, or at least from the same place, those sneaky guys." Just as Kyou finished, a familiar black SUV drove up to us and stopped, the driver opening the window as it did.

" _Hello! Sorry I'm a little late, there was some traffic on the way._ " Harri said to us in English as he poked his head outside the window, and I noticed he had replaced his glasses with a pair of aviators, the light brown hue of the lenses almost matching his hair. _Wouldn't he need his glasses to drive, though? I've heard of sunglasses that have corrective lenses, could his be like that?_ " _Hop on in and we'll start making our way back to Rovaniemi._ " Harri gestured to the back seat of the car, and the two of us gladly walked over to enter the air-conditioned vehicle. " _Did you two have a nice time_ _at the Wildlife Park_ _?_ " Harri asked as we sat down in the backseat and began to put our seatbelts on.

" _Yes, we did. This was most certainly an experience neither of us will forget._ _I'm sure Sora would agree as well._ " Kyou replied to him and looked towards me with a smile. " _Sora had some trouble, as we had to walk around a lot, but there were plenty of places to stop and rest at along the way. We also got to have lunch here, so we're not leaving hungry._ "

" _That's good to hear._ " Harri turned his gaze back up front and began to drive out of the parking lot. _It doesn't look like he has any problems driving…_ " _Which of the animals would you were your personal favourites, if you don't mind me asking? I'm quite fond of the bears – both the brown and the polar variants._ " He then asked from us. _Our… favourite animals? I'm guessing he's talking about the ones here._ I glanced at the older woman sitting next to me. _For Kyou, I would say every single one of them, based on what she was like back there, but I think there's a clear winner…_

" _The wild boars!_ " Kyou exclaimed, and I could see her eyes shining even from behind her sunglasses. _Yep, I guessed correctly. Heh._ " _Though I really also liked all the different owls, and the bears were kinda cute too. But, the boars were the best! I have a pet boar back home called Botan,_ _and she's the cutest thing ever!_ " When Kyou had seen the boars in the Wildlife Park, she had gone absolutely mental over them. I've never heard anyone make such high-pitched squeals of joy before – and I don't think neither had anyone else who happened to witness the event. _Probably half of the pictures on her camera are of those boars… Heh, I hope Botan doesn't get jealous._

" _I…_ _see. Well, that is nice, I guess. How about you, Sora?_ " Harri turned his head slightly upwards, and I met his inquisitive gaze in the rear-view mirror.

"Hmmm..." I looked down at the fox plushie Kyou bought for me and thought for a moment. _Certainly, I liked a lot of the animals._ _The red fox, the raccoon dog, the bears, and even the reindeer, but…_ My gaze shifted from the plushie to my hand, where it met the ring on my finger. _That's right… Finland's national bird…_ "... _The swans_." I said in English and lifted my gaze back up. " _They were… really pretty. Also noisy, and very… aggressive towards the other birds, but… They were pretty._ " I explained to Harri, who I could see nodded a little in response.

" _Good choice. The whooper swan is our national bird, if you didn't know that. Their Finnish name, 'laulujoutsen', literally means 'song swan' in English, though whether or not you count their cries as a 'song' is up to you._ " Harri replied with a slight chuckle.

As Harri drove us out of the city itself and towards the highway, we could clearly see what he meant with the traffic. While _we_ were currently on vacation, most of the residents here were not, and it seemed that a large majority of these people had now gotten from work (though Harri did say that if we were an hour later, the traffic would have been even worse), causing a large influx of cars pretty much everywhere, and our close proximity to the Wildlife Park – a popular tourist attraction – didn't help with that. Once we made it onto the highway, though, the amount of cars on the road dropped drastically, and we were able to continue our journey back with ease.

While walking around the Park – along with the various other attractions and stores at it, such as the domestic animal yard just outside the Wildlife Park proper – had taken its toll on me, and I was honestly quite tired, I stayed awake the whole way. My nap earlier in the day on the way here was more than enough for now, though I couldn't promise the same for when I got back to the hotel and into Haru's arms, as I was definitely in the mood for _snuggling_ in our bed together with my brother.

The one-hour car trip back to Rovaniemi went by quite quickly as I lightly chatted away with Kyou about various topics ranging all the way from our thoughts on the Wildlife Park to our personal lives. I had never really considered myself one for idle chatter (I am well aware of my own antisocial tendencies, but I have been trying to improve in that regard), but talking with Kyou felt natural, _relaxing_ , almost. Despite being relatively young herself, and having only become Ushio's mother not too long ago, the mature and motherly aura emanating from Kyou made me feel at ease, something which I had previously thought to only be possible when I was together with Haru – after the passing of our parents. _I've already started to see Kyou-san as a…_ stand-in _for my mother… And while that isn't a bad thing… I can't get_ too _attached to her before we're ready to tell her the truth. As much as I hope that it won't be the case… There's a high chance that Kyou-san will not accept mine and Haru's relationship._ _But, I can't be thinking of these negative things right now._

Before long, we found ourselves on the parking lot of our Hotel, with Harri stepping out of the car to open the back seat doors for us.

" _Thank you, Harri._ " Kyou said as we stepped outside, stretching our bodies after being sat still for an hour. I hadn't noticed it before, but the sky had darkened with clouds at some point, not a single speck of blue visible above.

" _You're welcome._ " Harri replied as he took off his sunglasses, then fetched his regular glasses from his pocket and put them on. " _Everyone else should have returned already, so let's go, shall we?_ " Kyou and I nodded to Harri, and we began to make our way inside the hotel. I found my gaze wandering over to Harri's aviators, and the question I had had in my mind earlier resurfaced.

"Harri?" Our guide turned to face me and lifted an eyebrow in question as he heard me say his name, but didn't stop moving. " _How did you…_ see _without your glasses on? When you were driving?_ " I asked in English and pointed at his aviators.

" _Oh, I use my glasses to correct my hypermetropia, or 'far-sightedness'._ _In short_ _, I can't see objects close to me clearly, but objects that are farther away appear normal. That's why I don't always necessarily need my glasses when driving._ " Harri explained to me as we entered the hotel's lobby. _Oh, I see… Good thing he explained that, as I wouldn't have understood what any of the words he initially said meant._ I nodded to Harri as a response, then looked back forwards.

The lobby of the hotel was almost empty, but as I looked towards my right, I could see everyone else from our little "tourist group" gathered at the same place we had gathered at this morning. Everyone was still seemingly together with their pairs, including Haru, who was standing by Yukino. However, what caught my eye was the presence of someone else on Haru's other side, currently sitting cross-legged on the armrest of one of the lounge chairs. From this distance, I could easily spot that they were an adult woman, though she didn't feel that much older than us – possibly somewhere close to Kyou's age. As I got closer, I could see that her shoulder-length black hair had purple highlights at the ends, and her rose-coloured eyes shifted to look towards me, a slight _grin_ appearing on her face. _Who's she, then? She looks a bit like Yukino-san… But why is she with Haru?_ I shifted my gaze from the woman to my brother and raised an eyebrow, and Haru gave me an awkward smile in return when he noticed it. _What's that supposed to mean?_

" _Hello all! I'm glad to see you've all returned, as we had planned._ " Harri said and clapped his hands together to bring everyone's attention to him as we walked up to our group. I noticed that as he was scanning over everyone, his gaze stopped briefly at the mysterious woman, before continuing. _I'm guessing Harri doesn't know her either…_ " _You are all free to do as you please for the rest of the day, but I would like for everyone to briefly go over the things I requested to get feedback on with me. Any notes you've taken will be appreciated._ " The first one to make a move after Harri finished was Yukino, who took out a notebook and made her way over to him. Her icy gaze met mine on the way, and I gave her a smile and a small wave, but the older girl simply looked away from me, not returning the gesture. _What… was that?_ I suddenly felt that something was wrong. _Very_ wrong. As Yukino handed her notebook over to Harri and conversed with him in English, I looked towards Haru again, only to see that the older woman who was with him was currently leaning down on my brother, as if attempting to _hug_ him while whispering something in his ear. _What…_

 _W_ _hat the hell does she think she's doing?!_

Suffice it to say, I was simply _enraged_ at the display. Once Haru noticed that I was glaring at the two of them, he pushed the older woman away and said something to her, but I was too far away to hear what it was. It took all of my willpower to stop myself from walking over to Haru and dragging him away from the woman, but I couldn't help my free hand – the one not already clutching onto Kyou's gift – from balling up into a fist. _Who does she think she is, doing_ that _to_ my _Haru?_ As I was glaring at the woman – which she didn't seem to notice, or didn't care – Yukino walked past me again, this time not even looking at me as she made her way over to Hikigaya and whispered something in his ear. For a brief moment, I saw the black-haired boy's eyes shift to the older woman next to Haru, and I could swear I saw _fear_ in them. _Is she… Someone they know? She does look like Yukino-san… A relative, perhaps?_

As everyone took their turns in giving Harri their feedback, the pairs slowly melted back into our own groups, though the mysterious woman next to Haru was keeping him occupied with small talk. Mikami was the first to leave, making his way back upstairs to his room as soon as he was done with Harri, Tomoya made his way over to where Kyou and I were with Ushio, while Yumiko – now that her pair had left – went over to Hikigaya and Yukino. The raven-haired girl said something to the both of them, which caused their eyes to go wide and their gazes to shift first to me, then to Haru. Yukino also briefly glanced at me, but didn't meet my eyes before she walked over to Haru, pulled him away from the older woman – who looked at the pair with intrigue – and whispered something to him. _What on earth is going on..? Something must have happened…_ I saw Haru nod to Yukino, who walked back to Hikigaya and Yumiko, then began to make her way to the lift, with her "partners" (which I would guess would _technically_ be the correct term to use, given Yukino's, Yumiko's and Hikiaya's… _unique_ relationship) following after her with slight looks of _dread_ on their faces. As I was looking at the three of them, I felt my grip on the fox plushie tightening. _What… What could be causing Yukino-san's sudden change in demeanour? Don't tell me…_ My thoughts were interrupted when my line of sight to the lift was blocked, and I looked up to meet the rose-coloured eyes of the mysterious woman looking back at me.

"Hmmm… You must be Sora, am I correct?" The woman asked from me – in Japanese – as she studied my face.

"Um, yes, I am. And you are..?" In the corner of my eye, I could see Haru beginning to make his way over to me, albeit slowly.

"Hah! I knew it! The colour of your hair gave it away. But, forgive me. My name is Yukinoshita Haruno. A pleasure to meet the girl I've so much about from your brother." The woman replied, the smile on her face seemingly frozen in place.

"Wait… _Yukinoshita_? Are you..?"

"Yukino-chan's older sister." She finished my sentence for me. "Has she talked about me? I hope only good things~! Anyway, I think we'll be seeing each other a lot from now on, Sora-chan. You and your brother _Haru…_ _intrigue_ me, so I hope we'll get along." The older woman gave me a wink, then walked over to Harri, introducing herself to him in English.

"Yukinoshita's older sister, huh? She can't be that much older than her, not with that amount of _youthfulness_ emanating from her." Kyou said as her gaze followed the black-haired woman.

"What, don't tell me you're jealous, Kyou?" Tomoya said to his wife, who glared at him in return. "I-I mean… You're still plenty young and gorgeous, _Kyou-chan_." The glare was replaced by a blush as a grin appeared on Tomoya's face, and I couldn't help but smile myself as Kyou lightly punched her husband on the arm while muttering something along the lines of ' _Stupid Tomoya_ '.

"Did you… have fun with Kyou-san today, Sora?" My brother's voice caused me to turn away from the couple, and I met Haru's grey eyes with my own. I knew my brother more than anyone – in more ways than just one – and right now, I knew _something_ was wrong.

"I did, but… Haru. What's going on with Yukino-san? And why is her sister suddenly here?" I asked and glanced at the older woman currently talking with Harri.

"Well..." Haru looked towards Yukinoshita Haruno, then at Kyou, before leaning closer to me and whispering. " _We need to talk. Privately._ " I lifted an eyebrow in question at Haru, but he didn't say anything else to me. _What… happened?_

"...Alright. So, should we go, then?" I asked and pointed towards the lift.

"We might as well come with you." Tomoya said, and I turned to face him. "It might get a little cramped in that lift, though."

"I'm… sure we'll de fine." Haru replied, and Tomoya nodded to him.

After a brief "goodbye" to Harri, the five of us started to make our way back upstairs to our respective rooms. As Tomoya had guessed, it got a little cramped in the lift, and he had to carry Ushio while in it. Haru was eerily silent during the whole time, despite the fact that he was usually the more chatty one, and it looked like he was in deep thought the whole time. _Yukino-san's sudden change in demeanour… Hikigaya-san's and Yumiko-san's reaction o when she said something to them, something related to_ us… _Could it be…_

 _She's found out?_

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and shook my head to clear away the negative thoughts. _I'll have to listen to what Haru has to say, and just…_ hope _._

"Ah, Sora!" Kyou's voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I realized that we were already at our rooms. "Don't forget your gift to Yukinoshita." She then continued and started to dig around in her backpack.

"Right, of course. The gift." I said, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Haru was now looking at the two of us with intrigue.

"A… gift for Yukinoshita-san?" Haru asked just as Kyou pulled out the plushie I had bought from her backpack and handed it to me.

"Yes, a gift." I said as I took the plushie from Kyou and presented it to Haru. "It's a lynx. I bought it from the souvenir shop at the Wildlife Park, since I figured that Yukino-san would like it since… Well, it's a feline. And then Kyou-san bought me this." I lifted up the plushie in my other hand, feeling a smile growing on my face as I did. After examining the plushies for a moment, a smile appeared on Haru's face as well as he gazed into my eyes.

"That's very thoughtful of you, Sora. This… This is the first time you've bought a gift for someone else." I felt my cheeks heating up as Haru finished, and I averted my gaze from him. _Is it really? I… I guess it must be…_

"I… Well… I-I'll give to her a little later. Y-you wanted to talk with me anyway." I replied in my embarrassment and walked past Haru, stopping before I opened the door to our room to turn around. "Kyou-san… T-thanks again for this." I thanked the older woman, who simply smiled at me in return.

"Don't worry about it, Sora. I'll see you later! Oh, and… um… Make… Make good use of the _advice_ I gave you." Kyou replied to me, a slight blush making its way onto her cheeks. _Ah, right…_

"I… I will. _A-arigatou_." Haru and Tomoya looked at the two of us with confused expressions, then each other, before shrugging.

After another set of "goodbyes" Haru and I entered our room, with my brother making sure that the door was locked behind us. I walked over to the bed and placed the plushies on it, then sat down next to them.

"So, what did you need to talk about, Haru?" I asked as my brother walked up to me. _If it's what I suspected… Giving Yukino-san her gift might become a little difficult…_

"Well… It's a bit cliché, but… Do you want the good or the bad news first?" Haru asked in turn as he sat down next to me. _So there's some good news, then? Maybe… Maybe I let my pessimism get the better of me by expecting the worst?_

"The good news, of course." I replied. _Maybe it's the good news that have to do with Yukino-san… Though that might just be wishful thinking._

"Alright. Although… I guess whether or not it's ' _good'_ news depends, but… Hideki called me earlier today, and told me that he was coming to visit us this weekend." _Hideki? Well… I guess it's not_ bad _news that he's coming…_

"Okay… So what about the bad news then..?" Haru's face twisted into a slight grimace, and he averted his gaze from me.

"It… It's got to do with Yukinoshita-san. The younger one." With just that, I already knew where Haru was going with this. "She… She told me today that… She was _aware_ that the two of us were keeping something secret from her. Something relating to our _relationship_." I let my gaze fall to the floor as my hands balled up into fists. _No…_ "Yukinoshita-san said that she was _hurt_ because we were keeping secrets from her, when she had deemed us trustworthy enough to be allowed to know _her_ secret, and… I fully understand her on that. Which is why…" Haru paused, hesitating for a moment, only continuing once I lifted my gaze back to meet his. "I… I had no choice to but to tell her the truth, Sora. Yukinoshita-san… She knows our relationship is not that of normal siblings." My hands were shaking, and I felt Haru placing his on top of mine, squeezing down slightly.

"So..." I said quietly after a few moments. "...She's back to hating us, then?" _It was too good to be true… I'm just not cut out for forging lasting friendships like Haru is… Damn it, why does our love have to be looked down upon?!_

"I… I wouldn't say that quite yet. She was… _understanding_ , in a way, and didn't really know what to think. She's definitely upset, and at least somewhat… _disgusted_ , but… I think she's talking about this very thing with Hikigaya and Miura-san right now. I talked with her about it a little, and while I wouldn't say that I got through to her… I'm certain my words had at least _some_ effect." Haru gave me a weak, but reassuring smile, and I leaned against his shoulder, closing my eyes as he wrapped an arm around me.

"I… I don't want her to hate us, Haru..." I said quietly, feeling tears welling up in my eyes. "I don't want to lose the friendship we have with Yukino-san and Yumiko-san." I felt Haru hugging onto me, pressing his cheek against mine.

"I don't want to lose it either, Sora. I don't want _you_ to lose it." Haru said and planted a kiss on my cheek while he stroked my hair with his hand. "All we can do now is hope. Hope that Miura-san and Hikigaya can convince her, and hope that she can find it within herself to not only forgive us, but also _accept_ us." I nodded slightly, letting myself melt into my brother's arms. _A part of me wants to just not care about others, but with Yukino-san… I thought we could have had something. And even Yumiko-san… They both felt like_ friends _to me._ _I_ want _to care about them._

 _And I don't want to lose them._

Time passed, and eventually I found myself snuggling with Haru on our bed as he gently stroked my head, our breathing in sync as we simply laid there and enjoyed each other's warmth. With my ear pressed against Haru's chest, I could feel his heartbeat clearly, and it made me feel _calm_ , and _safe_. _I don't understand why others would see what we have as_ wrong _in any way. What's the difference between the love Haru and I have, and the love that Tomoya-san and Kyou-san have? Or what Yukino-san and Yumiko-san have with Hikigaya-san? How could someone see_ true love _between two individuals as wrong? Haru and I just happen to be siblings, but somehow that is seen as a barrier that prevents us from loving each other? Nonsense._ _How could something that feels so_ right _be so wrong?_

Suddenly, our serene moment together was interrupted by a knock on our door. I opened my eyes when I felt Haru stop stroking my head, reluctantly lifting it off his chest.

"Haru. Who is interrupting our time together?" I asked as my brother sat up.

"I… think it's someone from Hikigaya's group. Yukinoshita-san said that… she wanted to talk about this with us." Haru replied, and I averted my gaze from him while I bit my lip. _I'm… I'm not sure I can face Yukino-san right now, knowing that she's found out about our lie…_ My gaze found its way to the foot of the bed, where the fox plushie Kyou had bought for me was leaning against the lynx that I had bought – Yukino's gift. I stared into the beady eyes of the lynx for a few seconds, then clenched my fists and turned back to Haru.

"Haru… can I… Kiss you?" I asked, and my brother looked back at me with confusion written on his face.

"Now?" I nodded to Haru as a reply, and after a few moments, he smiled back at me. "Alright, then your wish is granted, Sora."

I smiled back at Haru, then leaned closer to him, wrapping my arms around his neck as I closed my eyes and pressed my lips against his. I felt Haru wrap his arms around my waist as we kissed passionately, the feeling of bliss I got from the connection almost overwhelming me. _There is no way this is wrong._ After multiple seconds, we separated, and Haru stood up, ready to go answer the door. I watched him go, but turned back to look at the plushies once he got to our door. _"Knowing and realizing that you need to change for the better is the first step towards actually changing yourself."_ Kyou's words echoed in my mind, and I nodded to myself, now feeling determined. _If that's the first step, then the second step would be to actually start changing yourself. And the first thing I'm going to do to aim for that… Is to stop thinking so negatively and giving up on everything._

As I heard Haru calling my name from the doorway, I grabbed the lynx plushie and got up from the bed, beginning to make my way to him.

* * *

"So… I guess… You couldn't keep it secret from her, huh?"

"Well… yeah. She said that… she had already suspected something was off."

"Yeah, that's basically what she told us. So, uhh… we all ready to go in?"

The black-haired boy pointed a finger at the door in front of us, which felt more imposing than anything else had before in our lives. _Just behind that door… Yukinoshita Yukino is waiting for us._

My guess about the identity of the person who had knocked on our door was correct, as Sora and I were currently standing with Hikigaya out in the hallway, about to enter his and his two _partners'_ room. Hikigaya had "fetched" the two of us (" _Yumi and Yuki always make me do everything for them..._ ") from our room just a minute or so ago, and while it didn't take long for us to walk down the hallway to their room, it was here – right in front of the door to said room – where we had been standing still. We were all hesitant to enter, even Hikigaya himself.

"We're… as ready as we can be." I replied and glanced over at Sora, who was carrying the lynx plushie she had bought today with her. As she noticed my gaze, she took a deep breath and hid the plushie behind her back, giving me a nod as to say that she was ready. "Yukinoshita-san… Told you everything, I presume?" Hikigaya nodded to me.

"...And we – Yumi and I – admitted that we had known all along. She was… _disappointed_ , to say the least." Hikigaya replied, letting his gaze fall to the floor. _Hikigaya does love both of the girls from the bottom of his heart, no matter how odd_ _that thought_ _may seem._ _Seeing Yukinoshita-san feeling…_ betrayed _, not only by us, but by those closest to her as well… It must have hurt him as well._

"I… can understand that. Did you… discuss it further?" It may have seemed like I was delaying meeting Yukinoshita as much as possible, but knowing this much was only going to be useful when we would face the girl.

"A better question would be 'Have we done anything _but_ discuss it?'. Yuki told us about it once Sora returned with Okazaki-san, then said that we would talk about it back in our room. After grilling us on some questions about our involvement, she ranted almost all by herself for a good while, not giving us many opportunities to say anything back to her. We tried our best at trying to ' _convince_ ' her, but… Well, she won't make the final decision with just hearing our arguments. She needs to hear _yours_."

"Right. Well, we might as well get this over with." Hikigaya nodded again, and as he reached for the doorknob, I felt Sora's hand taking a hold of mine. I turned to look at my sister, but didn't meet her gaze. _She must be nervous… I can't blame her, though. Worst case scenario, Yukinoshita-san outs our relationship to everyone here, and best case scenario… Well, the best case I can think of right now is that she'll simply return to her previous self, shunning us every chance she gets. Even so…_

 _I must have hope. For Sora's sake._

Hikigaya slowly opened the door, then motioned for us to step inside. I heard Sora swallow as we entered the room, though she never let go of my hand. _No turning back now…_ We had never been inside their hotel room before, but it wasn't much different from ours. The room was relatively small, though it felt slightly larger than ours, and had three beds instead of just one (though, originally, our room had two separate beds). However, while all of the three beds and the nightstands next to them had various miscellaneous items on and around them (ranging anywhere from spare clothes to makeup – all in varying levels of tidiness), indicating which one of the beds belonged to whom, one of the beds was _clearly_ the least-used one out of the three of them. Apart from a missing pillow, the bed was perfectly made, with the sheets only having a few creases on them (likely a result of someone having sat on it), as if it had been barely touched, let alone slept in. Given the _relationship_ between the three residents of the room, I didn't have a hard time figuring out _why_ one of the beds was left unused. On the other hand, the bed next to it – which I presumed was Hikigaya's, given the presence of a _PSP_ on the nightstand – seemed like it had _more_ use than both of the other two combined. _They might be going at it more than Sora and I are… I kind of feel bad for Hikigaya in a way, having to satisfy_ two _girls… But that isn't what we came here for._ As I looked around the room, there was one thing that stood out amongst everything else. It wasn't something that was _in_ the room, or even _someone_ inside it, but rather… the _lack thereof_. More specifically…

The lack of Yukinoshita Yukino.

"Hikio? Oh, you found them." Came a familiar voice from behind one of the beds, as Miura Yumiko stood up and looked towards us, having been kneeling down next to the untouched bed before. "You were taking long, so we thought Sora and Haru might have gone somewhere from their room." Miura said as she walked over to us.

"Where's Yuki now?" Hikigaya asked as his eyes scanned the room, putting mine – and possibly Sora's as well – thoughts into words. As a reply, Miura simply pointed a thumb towards a side door, which I guessed must have been the bathroom.

"She's… been quite upset. Mostly with you guys, but also us, and… _herself_." I lifted an eyebrow in question at Miura's statement, but she simply shrugged her shoulders. "That's just something she said herself, and… Well, when you're together with a person for so long, you tend to pick up things based on the things they do and say. She's probably upset that she didn't… _realize_ this sooner, or something." Miura bit her lower lip as she brought her left hand to grip onto her right arm over her abdomen. "This… must be a bad situation for you guys. Hikio told me what Yukinoshita was like before you _tricked_ her, and she certainly displayed some 'familiar signs' when she talked about this whole thing with us, if you catch my drift." Miura explained, and I felt Sora's grip on my hand tightening ever so slightly.

"We… had hoped that we wouldn't find ourselves in this situation – at least any time soon. However… We knew we couldn't keep the lie up around Yukinoshita forever, and..." I turned to look at Sora, who met my gaze with her own. "...I know at least Sora wanted to _come clean_ about our relationship to her at some point." Sora's gaze dropped for a few moments, before she looked towards Miura and opened her mouth to say something.

"Scheming behind my back again, are you?" Before words could come out of Sora's mouth, another voice spoke out, and all four of us turned our heads to meet the source – Yukinoshita Yukino. "Sorry, I… _Ahem_. It seems our guests have arrived. Please, come in." Yukinoshita spoke elegantly, as usual, but I could tell something was _off_. _It doesn't seem like Hikigaya and Miura-san were able to do much…_ As Miura moved away from us, Yukinoshita froze in place, her gaze fixated on mine and Sora's interlocked hands, and she only raised it back up when the two of us walked up to her, stopping about a metre away from her, with Hikigaya and Miura standing just to the side. "Let's not waste any time. You both know why you're here." Yukinoshita said and crossed her arms.

"To… talk about our relationship." I replied, more as a statement than a question, trying to keep my cool.

"...I guess you could word it that way. Miura-san and Hikigaya-kun _defended_ your relationship with your sister – despite how _immoral_ it is – by appealing to _our_ relationship." Yukinoshita began and gestured to herself, Hikigaya and Miura. "However, I need to hear how _you_ are going to defend your own relationship, and I will try to endure your explanation, despite how _disgusted_ it makes me feel." I glanced at Sora as Yukinoshita finished, then took a deep nasal breath to mentally prepare myself.

"Right, well… First of all, have you thought about the question I asked from you? Whether your… _disgust_ for our relationship stems from your individual beliefs, or from those imposed upon you by society?" Yukinoshita's eyes flicked to Hikigaya for a brief moment, before she lowered her gaze downwards. "Hikigaya and Miura-san were able to accept us, because it didn't clash with their personal beliefs, and because they don't care what society thinks is right or wrong, but which is it for you?"

"And… You've also been _shunned_ by society, right, Yukino-san?" Sora chimed in, her voice quiet but determined. _Has she? That must be something the two of them have talked about alone…_ "Everyone around you has _mistreated_ and _discriminated_ you, just like with Hikigaya-san, and for what reason? Because you happened to be so pretty? And so smart? Is that not what you told me? Why… Why should you listen to the society that has hurt you?" Sora began to tremble, but she stood strong next to me. _Sora…_

"You… You don't know me." Yukinoshita said quietly and lifted her gaze, her expression being that of someone who felt hurt in nearly every meaning of the word.

"But _I_ do, Yuki." Hikigaya said, causing us to turn towards him. "I don't know the extent of what you've told to Sora, but it seems she knows enough. Yumi and I… We already said all this to you, but… We're _outcasts_ , the three of us. What we have – our _happiness –_ would be seen as something ' _wrong_ ' by society. How is it any different from what Haruka and Sora have?" Miura nodded along with the black-haired boy, and Yukinoshita turned away again.

"I don't… I don't know." She said after a moment of pause, then looked me in the eyes again. "I don't _know_ if these… these _feelings_ stem from my own ideals and beliefs, or if I just think this way because I've been _taught_ to think this way." Yukinoshita was now the one to start trembling. _She… doesn't know? What does that mean?_ "I don't _know_ how our situation is different from theirs. But… That's why I wanted to meet you two. So I could find out. So, Sora-san, Kasugano-kun. _Why_ , is my question. _Why_ are you together, when you know your love is not accepted? _Why_ are things the way they are for you? _Why_ are you in love?" Silence fell upon us as Yukinoshita finished. _Yukinoshita-san, she… she doesn't know what to think of the situation? So… what I said to her earlier today, and what Hikigaya and Miura-san have been saying to her after that… It got through to her?_

"It just happened." Sora was the one who spoke first. "That's… how love works. We're together because we _truly_ love each other, from the bottom of our hearts, and we won't allow anything to get in the way of our love. We fell in love because of our circumstances, and we just happen to be siblings. Nothing else to it. Our love is… no different from any other form of love." Sora managed to put everything I wanted to say into words, and I felt a smile growing on my face.

"Yeah, like, why should it matter if they're related or not?" Miura spoke after Sora finished, crossing her arms in a fashion similar to Yukinoshita earlier. "It's not like, it affects _our_ life if they're siblings and still love each other romantically. That just… makes the bond they have _unique_ , just like the three of us. Didn't we like, all agree that love is something that other people shouldn't have a say in when we… _got together_?" _Right… I know about their relationship, but they've never elaborated how things exactly turned out the way they are._

"I… I don't… I can't..." Yukinoshita closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows, while Miura's expression dropped a little.

"We… won't ask the impossible from you, Yukinoshita-san. If you really can't accept our relationship, then… We can't _force_ you to accept it. We just want you to look past it, to _tolerate_ it. Sora and I, we only have each other. You have to understand that things just happened to turn out this way – and we're happy with it. Things… Things would be _vastly_ different for us if certain… _events_ had gone differently. But, even if you simply can't look past it, if you can't find it within yourself to accept us… We'll just have to live with that." I saw Hikigaya's and Miura's eyes widening a little as I finished, and it looked like Miura was going to say something, but was stopped by Hikigaya placing a hand on her shoulder. _That's… all I can think of to say. It might seem like we're giving up, but… If there really is no way to convince Yukinoshita-san… It's the only course of action we can take._

"Yukino-san..." Sora said quietly as she let go of my hand, and slowly pulled her other hand from behind her back, revealing the lynx plushie she had been hiding there the entire time. "I… I really liked being with you and Yumiko-san. I don't… have many friends, so… Your company was something which I hadn't experienced since I was a child – and I enjoyed it. That's why..." Sora took a step forwards, and Yukinoshita opened her eyes to look at her as she did.

"Sora-san… What is that?" Yukinoshita asked as she pointed a finger at the plushie Sora was holding.

"It's… a _gift_. For you. I saw it at the souvenir store in the Wildlife Park I visited with Kyou-san, and thought that it would be a great gift for you, since… well, it's a lynx, and they are… _cats_." Sora explained, and I could see the slightest hint of a blush on her cheeks. "Of course, this was _before_ Haru told me that you had found out about… well, this whole thing, but… I still wanted to give it to you. Of course, if you don't want to accept it, that's fine, but..." Sora bit her lip, glanced towards me, then looked back at Yukinoshita. "…Even if you _hate_ the _current_ me for keeping my relationship with my brother a secret, I want you to think of this gift from the _past_ me, who… who thought that… y-you were a g-good friend, Yukino-san." Sora's face reddened as she shoved the plushie forwards to Yukinoshita, who was looking at her wide-eyed. A few seconds passed with both of the girls staying completely still, and Sora's face saddened. _She… She isn't going to take it…_ Just as Sora's arms started to drop back, Yukinoshita blinked once, as if reacting to the sudden movement, then quickly grabbed a hold of the plushie with her hands, startling Sora – as well as everyone else in the room. "Y-Yukino-san..?"

"A-ah, I..." Yukinoshita averted her gaze, and I saw a slight blush appearing on her face as well – but she didn't let go of the plushie. "I… I'll accept… your gift..." Sora's eyes widened in surprise, and I saw equally surprised expressions on both Hikigaya's and Miura's faces. _She… She… Accepted it?_ A small spark of hope was relit inside of me as Sora let go of the plushie, and Yukinoshita pulled it towards her body, her gaze still not meeting any of ours. "I… I need more time to think. _Alone_." Yukinoshita then said after a few moments, her gaze quickly flicking to everyone in the room. " _N-now_." We all stood still for a second or two, before registering what the raven-haired girl had said, with Hikigaya being the first to make a move, pulling Miura along with him towards the door. I looked towards them, then back at Yukinoshita, who didn't meet my gaze, and instead hid her face behind her hands and the plushie. I turned back when I felt a tug on my sleeve, and saw Hikigaya motioning towards the hallway through the open door behind him. _I… guess we have to give her the time she wants, then…_ I placed a hand on Sora's shoulder, and pulled my sister back once she had registered my touch and turned to face me. Within moments, we were outside of the room again, but I was still trying to process what had happened.

"Did… we get through to her?" I asked and let my gaze wander over the three people currently with me. _Is this… her final judgement?_

"I… would like to assume we did, but… That would be uncharacteristically optimistic of me." Hikigaya replied and looked towards the door. "The gift – and what Sora said – definitely affected her in some way, but… Even I can't say for sure what she's going to say."

"Did we… go a little far?" Miura asked, her tone being softer than usual. "I mean… It's like, her decision, right? It felt like we were kind of like, forcing our views onto her…"

" _Peer pressure…_ I know Yuki is above that sort of thing, but..."

"She… said that she didn't know what to think." Sora said, her gaze directed at her hands. "Yukino-san didn't have an opinion of her own – not a solid one, at least – so we had to give her one. I just hope… that it was enough."

"Oh, and what's this then? Yukino-chan kicked you out?" A voice came from our left, and I saw Hikigaya immediately freezing up as he heard it. "Hm? What's with the gloomy faces? Did something happen?" The voice belonged to none other than Yukinoshita Haruno, and as she walked up to us, I heard an audible swallow coming from Hikigaya.

"H-Haruno-san? W-what brings you here?" I asked as I turned to face the older woman a slight feeling of dread washing over me at the possibility that she had heard what we were talking about. _Even if she heard a little bit… She will go to any lengths to know more. And if we won't tell her… She'll just find out some other way. That's the picture I got of her, at least._

"Yeah, what _are_ youdoing here?" Miura asked and sent a glare towards Haruno. "I thought you were like, holed up back in Chiba for the whole summer, and then you suddenly appear here without any warning?" It was clear in her voice that Miura did not like Haruno being here, possibly as much as Yukinoshita.

"Hm? Did Yukino-chan not tell you? And you've had all this time as well?" Haruno raised an eyebrow and looked over each of us. "Well, no matter. Mother allowed me to have a short vacation, so I decided to come here and see my cute little sister and _brother-in-law_." Hikigaya twitched as Haruno finished, and the older woman smiled deviously as she closed the distance between herself and the black-haired boy.

"Yukinoshita-san… Could you not?" Hikigaya said as he pushed Haruno away. "And cut the act, you know it doesn't work on me." _'Cut the act'? Is Hikigaya…_ aware _of Haruno's true self? What Yukinoshita-san told me about?_

" _Mou_ , don't be like that, Hikigaya-kun. And I've told you to call me _Onee-chan_ multiple times in the past, have I not?" I saw Miura's eye twitch, but the blonde kept herself calm. _Yeah, I think I understand why Miura-san can't stand Haruno-san…_ "Oh, and remember that my offer still stands~! If Yukino-chan ever _disappoints_ you..." Haruno leaned closer to Hikigaya again, who recoiled back away from the older woman as much as possible. "...you can always come to your _big_ sis for consolation." The implications of Haruno's words were obvious, and I saw Miura's hand balling up into a fist as pure _rage_ flashed in her eyes. _She's walking on thin ice right now, and she doesn't even realize it… Hikigaya did say that the girls were quite_ extreme _when it came to matters relating to him, and they said themselves that they reached the compromise of a three-way relationship precisely because neither wanted Hikigaya to be taken away by another girl… This might get nasty._

"Um… I don't think that's a good idea, Haruno-san." I said and glanced at Miura, who met my gaze with her own, curious one – though it couldn't hide the fact that her eyes were still full of _hatred_. "Your little sister is just behind that door, and… I don't think Hikigaya's girlfriend would take kindly to seeing you right now." I saw Miura's hand unclenching, and she gave me a small smile in appreciation of what I was saying and doing. Haruno looked back at me for a few moments, then let out a sigh as she moved back away from Hikigaya, taking a step towards me.

"Aren't you just a knight in shining armour… You know, I'm going to be honest with you: You're the type of guy that I _really_ hate, Haru. ' _Prince Charming_ ', if you will. I find your kind… _boring_ , especially when compared to someone so _interesting_ like Hikigaya-kun here. However..." Haruno closed the distance between us and studied my face for a few moments, the devious smile returning to her face. "...There's just something about you that I can't quite place, something hidden beneath that 'pretty boy' surface of yours, something _interesting_." Hikigaya's eyes widened, and his mouth was left agape at Haruno's words, as if in shock. "And so, despite how _boring_ I find you, Haru… Whatever you're hiding from me is interesting enough to counter that tenfold, I'm sure of it." Haruno's face was now extremely close to mine, and I had to take a step back from her. _Did Hikigaya experience this side of Haruno-san as well?_

"You're bothering Haru." Sora's voice came from my right, and my sister took my hand to pull me away from Haruno, who looked at our interlocked hands with intrigue.

"Interesting indeed..." Haruno said quietly, and Sora released my hand, glaring at the older woman. "You're quite protective of your brother, are you not?"

"Haru protects and takes care of me, so why shouldn't I return the favour? Besides, you were making him uncomfortable, I could tell." _While she is right, I think Sora was the one who was feeling more uncomfortable than I was…_

"Is that so..?" Haruno was about to continue, but was interrupted by the door next to us opening, and Yukinoshita peeking out, her eyes widening as she saw her older sister.

"Nee-san? What are you..?" Yukinoshita asked, her gaze flicking to Hikigaya's.

"Ah, Yukino-chan! I came here to tell you some great news: I'll be staying in this hotel with all of you!" Haruno exclaimed, while her younger sister simply stared back at her, then let out a sigh.

"That is anything _but_ great news… Anyway, you can all… come back in now." Yukinoshita opened the door a little more and motioned for us to come inside. "But not you, Nee-san. Not now, not _ever_." Yukinoshita said and glared at her older sister as the four of us began to make our way into the room.

"Aw, don't be a spoil sport. Oh well, I'll leave you to it, then. Although… I will say that I do find it intriguing that you three would be sharing a room." Haruno said and peeked inside the room. "Don't Hikigaya-kun and Yukino-chan _make a lot of noise_? Can you even sleep properly, Miura-san?" The faces of Hikigaya, Miura and Yukinoshita all flared up, and the latter of the three hurried everyone inside the room, before slamming the door behind her and locking it.

"Honeslty, Nee-san..." Yukinoshita said and released a drawn-out sigh. " _Ahem_. Anyway, we should… not stand by the door. She might hear us." Yukinoshita then said and walked past us, and I felt that the previous feelings of dread, animosity and disgust were… _gone_. I took a hold of Sora's hand – to my sister's slight surprise – and gripped onto it like I was gripping onto the spark of hope inside of me. "Right, so..." Yukinoshita turned to face Sora and I again after we got inside the room properly, then took a deep breath. "After… thinking over everything all of you said to me… I have arrived at a conclusion." Yukinoshita's eyes scanned over each of us, stopping on Sora's. "I believe… that I may have been too hasty in my judgement." The small spark of hope I had suddenly grew larger.

"So that means..." I started, trying not to sound too hopeful. _She hasn't said it yet._

"I… I'm still _indecisive_ when it comes to this matter as a whole, but… I've decided to give you two a second chance. No, not only you two, but also myself. I'll… I'll watch you two closely, and see where everything goes from here, then base my judgement on that, to see if I stand by what I previously thought was true – was _right_ – or if I am… _corrected_. In other words..." Yukinoshita hesitated slightly, then bowed deeply.

" _I hope we can still be friends, Sora-san, Kasugano-kun._ "

* * *

 **AN: And we're done! Whew, this took a while to write, but you can have an extra-long chapter to make up for it. I tried to get this out sooner, but failed miserably in that regard, but better late than never, eh?**

 **I'll try my best that the next chapter won't take as long as this one did, which – with my two other stories nearing their conclusions – shouldn't be a big issue. But, as always, we'll see if I can stay by my word.**

 **[1] When directly translated, " _Haruka_ " would mean " _distant_ ", " _remote_ " or " _far away_ ". Since " _Sora_ " means " _sky_ ", that would make the twins' translated names " _Distant_ " and " _Sky_ ", or " _Distant Sky_ " when put together. Quite fitting indeed.**

 **The " _Haru_ " in both Haruka's and Haruno's names can mean various things, depending on how it's written, such as " _spring_ " (the most common translation), " _clear_ " (when talking about the sky), " _clear weather_ ", " _light_ ", " _sun_ " or " _male_ " (this translation is probably tied with the " _sun_ " translation, as in many cultures the sun is seen as a masculine symbol, while the moon is seen as feminine). As for the Yukinoshita siblings, their names are literally " _Snow from below the snow_ " (Yukino) and " _Light from below the snow_ " (Haruno), which reflects their personalities: Cold and quiet for Yukino, bright and cheerful for Haruno.**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Hello, and welcome back to this story, dear readers! With one of my other stories finished (for now, as I plan to return to it with a sequel), and another one just a chapter away from its conclusion, I will have a lot more time to focus on this story – as well as the other writing projects I have planned. However, as this story remains the one I have to do the most work towards, updates will most likely stay a bit slow (something which I've at this point accepted as a fact, as I can't seem to get a proper schedule for updating my stories in time – as evidence by this chapter), but hopefully, there will be less of a wait between chapters starting from now on.**

 **And a quick "warning", there will be a lemon scene in this chapter. Been a while since I've written one, but I just felt like adding one into this chapter. Pretty obvious where it starts, and it can be skipped if one wants to.**

 **Now, with those out of the way, let's this chapter underway!**

* * *

 **Chapter 15 – The Clear after the Storm**

"...And so, I'm hoping that I'll get along with all of you!" Hideki finished his introduction with a bow, and I felt a tap on my shoulder, turning around to see Yukinoshita leaning closer to me.

" _So…_ _does he know?_ " Yukinoshita whispered to me, making sure that her sister – currently standing just behind us – wouldn't hear.

" _He does._ _And he accepts us._ " Yukinoshita studied Hideki with her gaze for a few moments, then nodded to me.

It was currently a Saturday morning, and we were all gathered in the hotel lobby – which had by now turned into our "general meeting area" for whenever Harri had a reason to get us all together. Hideki had arrived last evening, and had spent the night at Harri's place, the two old friends having apparently stayed up late catching up. They had arrived at the hotel together earlier this morning, and Harri had gathered us so Hideki could introduce himself to us – though Sora and I obviously didn't need the introduction. _I didn't really expect to see Hideki again so soon, but it is nice to have him here. Let's hope he gets along with the rest of our little group. Though, with his personality, I don't really see a problem with that._ I smiled to myself as I let my gaze wander over everyone in the room, stopping at Yukinoshita, currently standing to my right. As I looked at her, the events of Thursday – as well as yesterday – resurfaced in my mind.

After what happened on Thursday, Yukinoshita had began to tolerate mine and Sora's relationship, though I wasn't really sure if she was ready to accept it just yet – and neither was Yukinoshita herself. In her own words, she needed _time_. Time to observe and interact, so she could make up an opinion of her own on the matter. At the very least, she didn't seem to be openly _disgusted_ by the mere idea of it any more, which was definitely a step in the right direction. Sora and I were also – obviously – very supportive of her in her endeavour, but not so much that we would force our morals onto her. This was very much her decision to make, and we all knew that no matter what conclusion she would eventually come to, we would have to accept it. Though, I did also get the feeling that Yukinoshita was trying her hardest to find it in herself to accept us, if the moments she spent together with Sora yesterday – when both of the girls would be _smiling_ and _giggling_ amongst themselves, a rare occurrence for Yukinoshita according to Hikigaya – were any indication.

The five of us had spent yesterday hanging out together, since Harri didn't have anything planned for us. Initially, it seemed as if Yukinoshita was a little guarded, and she acted a little hesitant around us, making the rest of us worried that she still held some enmity towards the two of us, but it turned out to be simply because she still felt embarrassed about the whole affair, and was worried that we wouldn't be able to forgive her. But, after Sora and I reassured her that we didn't have any hard feelings towards her, she relaxed, saying how _relieved_ she apparently was, having heard that from us. She genuinely thought that her actions had been unjust, considering that she had – in her own words: " _Let the pressure f_ _rom_ _social norms get the better of her when she herself actively went against said norms – and society itself, in some cases – all the time, without taking the time to think about the situation and formulating her own ideas of morality based on that._ " Suffice it to say, her explanation had amused Hikigaya greatly, who said that she had learned well from him, causing the girl to shoot some stinging insults towards her boyfriend about how no-one could ever learn anything actually useful from him – but with a blush on her face. So now, the ball was once again in Yukinoshita's court, but in a different way from before. She had pushed the idea that a relationship between siblings was _immoral_ out of her mind, and would start from a blank slate, observing Sora and I so she could create her own sense of morality for herself, rather than letting an outside force – in this case, _society_ – influence it. _A part of me is still a little worried that this all seems a little too good to be true, but… That's the pessimistic part of me, which frankly isn't that big. A much bigger part of me is happy that we can still be friends with Yukinoshita-san – and that we can be_ honest _with her_. I was brought out of my reminiscing as I saw Hideki walking over to us over from where Tomoya and Kyou were, and I presumed that the two of them – along with Ushio and Mikami – had already introduced themselves to him, given that the older couple was already making their way back to the lift, with Tomoya giving me a nod of acknowledgement on the way.

"Haruka! Sora-chan! It's been a while, has it not?" Hideki said cheerfully as he stopped just in front of us, playfully ruffling mine and Sora's hair.

"Well, it's been… What, a week, now? Something like that." I replied with a smile as Hideki pulled his hands back. "It's good to see you again, Hideki." Hideki smiled back at me, then looked towards Sora on my left, who offered him a small smile of her own accompanied by a nod. _Hard to imagine that just a couple of weeks ago Sora didn't really like Hideki being around…_

"And the same goes for me. I'm glad you two kids have managed to make some friends here." Hideki shifted his gaze to the four people next to us, letting it wander over each of them as he spoke. "I believe you're the only ones who haven't returned my introduction yet, though the two of you I do recognize." Hideki gestured to Yukinoshita next to me and Hikigaya on her other side.

"Yes, I believed we briefly met back in Oulu, though you couldn't really call it a 'proper meeting'. But, forgive me. My name is Yukinoshita Yukino. It's a pleasure to see you, Minaduki-san." Yukinoshita introduced herself with an elegant bow.

"Just Hideki is fine, we're all friends here, eh?" Hideki said as Yukinoshita raised her head, then turned his gaze to Hikigaya.

"Hikigaya Hachiman. Yuki's… _partner_ , though you probably guessed as much since you saw us back then." Hikigaya said in his usual deadpan manner, lazily raising a hand in greeting. _He probably deliberately avoided using the word 'boyfriend', given that Yumiko-san is here as well._ I glanced over at the blonde, but couldn't read her expression.

"And I'm Miura Yumiko. I'm here with Hikio and Yukinoshita, though I was sick for quite a while until recently, so I've been cooped up in our hotel room for like, forever. We've heard a lot about you from Haru and Sora, so it's like, nice to finally meet you." Yumiko introduced herself to Hideki in a polite manner, and despite how different it seemed from the way she usually spoke, the words and the tone of voice didn't feel out of place coming from the blonde's mouth. _I have seen glimpses of her caring – almost_ motherly _–_ _nature, so_ _I guess it makes sense that she can be polite and_ formal _at times when required… Unlike Hikigaya, who acts the same way no matter who is around._

"Good to see you as well, Miura-chan. I hope you've only heard good things about me!" Yumiko seemed a little surprised at the use of the honorific Hideki had chosen, but quickly got over it and smiled wryly at him – not voicing any distaste for the honorific he used that she might have had. "And how about you, then? You seem a little older than these kids here." Hideki finally turned to Haruno, her face plastered with the eerily frozen-in-place smile that she wore everywhere.

"Just a little bit, but enough to _exert authority_ over them. Though, I guess I would still be a kid compared to you, Minaduki-san." Haruno replied with a wink, and Hideki chuckled lightly in return. "I'm Yukinoshita Haruno, Yukino-chan's big sis~!" Haruno leaned forwards and embraced Yukinoshita from behind, enveloping the surprised girl in a hug.

"...And also the devil incarnate." Hikigaya mumbled under his breath, but not quietly enough for it to be missed by the sharp ears of both Haruno and Hideki.

"Mou, don't be rude to Onee-chan, Hikigaya-kun!" Haruno switched her target from her little sister to Hikigaya, but the black-haired young man saw it coming and avoided Haruno, bumping into Yumiko in the process.

"O-oi! H-Hikio!" Yumiko cried out, her face slightly tinted red – likely caused by the sudden contact – as she took a step away, though I could tell that she did so a little _hesitantly_ , as if she didn't _want to_ move away from Hikigaya. _She likely wants to do the exact opposite, I'd wager, but as long as they're in public, Yumiko-_ _san_ _needs to refrain from intimate contact with Hikigaya… Mine and Sora's situation is similar, so I know her pain._

"S-sorry." Hikigaya replied and turned away from Yumiko, his face also now slightly flushed as both Hideki and Haruno watched with intrigue. _Hideki is sharp, so if their interactions continue like that… He'll definitely figure out something is up. Here's hoping that all he'll figure out is that Yumiko-_ _san_ _fancies Hikigaya, which was Sora's –_ _and by definition, mine as well –_ _initial_ _guess about their relationship._

"Well, I must say, Harri has got quite the collection of people here. I won't be able to stay here for long, but I'm certain that I won't be bored with all of you around." Hideki said and glanced around the room, though only Mikami and Harri were still present. "And I'll be looking forwards to hearing all of your stories as well. Learning about and getting to know new people is always exciting, and I'd love to hear what you all think of Finland, too." In the corner of my eye, I could see Hikigaya and Yukinoshita glancing at each other, and I could almost hear them sigh just from looking at the expressions on their faces. _Two introverts meeting an extreme extrovert? Heh, this might become quite amusing._

"Oh, I like, totally get you." Yumiko said to Hideki. Unlike her two partners, she was very much an extrovert, though having interacted with her (and hearing various things from the girl herself), I got the feeling that she was more 'solitary', in a way, preferring to keep a close circle of friends, rather than befriending every passerby like the overly social butterfly that was Hideki. "I like, always used to think that Hikio was such a creep and a loner, but once I actually got to know him, he's actually a really sweet, helpful and reliable guy. Although his personality is still quite twisted, but it has its charms." Hikigaya blushed slightly at the sudden compliment, looking away from the smiling Yumiko.

"Miura-san is quite correct with that statement of hers. While Hikigaya-kun's personality is extremely twisted and rotten – fitting for someone whose eyes have been compared to those of a dead fish's – there are quite a few surprising qualities about him that make him a better human being than most people on the planet. That is, as long as you can ignore his eyes and twisted cynicism." Yukinoshita said with a smile that, despite her stinging words, was warm and filled with nothing but good intent, and I heard a small snort coming from Sora's direction, telling of her amusement.

"Oi, either compliment me or insult me, but don't do both at the same time." Hikigaya retorted back, eliciting a giggle from the two girls flanking him from both sides. But as he shook his head with a sigh at their reaction, I saw a small smile plastered onto his face, telling me of his true feelings regarding the playful banter the three of them shared. _To an outsider – like Hideki – it might seem like these girls enjoy tormenting Hikigaya for the sake of it. And, while I know that might be true, if Hikigaya didn'_ _t feel comfortable with them making light fun of him, he would have stopped them a long time ago._

"Hah! I can see that you three get along quite well!" Hideki exclaimed with a chuckle. _Well, it doesn't seem like Hideki thought like that for even a second._ "I'm thoroughly looking forwards to spending time here with all of you." The three University students seemed a little embarrassed, having been 'caught' in the middle of their bantering, but smiled at Hideki nonetheless. "Now, I do remember that Haruka and I had something to talk about face-to-face after I had arrived, and since we didn't have a chance to do so yesterday..." Hideki then continued, his gaze flicking between me and the lift at the back of the room. _Ah, I know what he means._

"Yes, that's right." I replied and glanced at Sora, who nodded at me with a slight smile on her face. I had told her yesterday that it would be best to tell Hideki about who did and didn't know about our relationship here – as well as the situation with Yukinshita – before he let anything slip by accident. Of course, we both knew Hideki was careful enough to avoid things like that, but it was still good to tell him. "We'll take our leave, then, but..." I looked towards Hikigaya, who raised an eyebrow at me questioningly. "...Why don't we all hang out afterwards? If you don't mind Hideki tagging along." Yukinoshita glanced at Hideki, then at Yumiko, before looking back at me with a small smile.

"I don't see a problem with it." Yukinoshita replied, then turned to her sister, who was about to say something. "But you're not coming along with us, Nee-san." She then said to Haruno in a cold voice, eliciting a pout from the older woman.

"Oh, come on, Yukino-chan~! You didn't let your Onee-chan come with you yesterday either!" Haruno protested, while her younger sister just sighed as she massaged her temple. Not even taking into account Yukinoshita's general dislike of her older sister, she didn't want to have Haruno with us yesterday for another reason as well, that reason being Sora and I. Now that Yukinoshita knows about our relationship, we could be more open around her – and she actually wanted us to do that in order to help her get more used to us. That meant that we couldn't have Haruno around, since she didn't know about our relationship.

"Well… They do say the more the merrier, right?" Hideki said after a few moments of studying the siblings, and Haruno's eyes lit up immediately as she heard him.

"That's right! Come on, Yukino-chan, we can all have fun together, right? It wouldn't be fair to leave your Onee-chan out of the fun a second time." Yukinoshita sent Hideki an exasperated and pleading look, but he either ignored it, or was oblivious to what she meant with it. _Of course, Hideki doesn't know what Haruno-san is really like, so…_

"Alright, fine. Just this once, you can come with us, Nee-san. But you better behave yourself." Yukinoshita said after a few more seconds with a defeated sigh, her older sister capturing her in an embrace again.

"That's the spirit! And don't worry, I'll be sure to give Mother a report that will benefit you – as long as I can have some fun." Haruno said with a wink, the meaning behind her words going over Hideki's head. _Right, she's here to keep an eye on Yukinoshita-san and and Hikigaya, since her mother doesn't approve of them being together. I'll say, it seems having a rich and influential family is more trouble than it's worth..._

"Well, I guess that's settled then, no? I don't know how long my chat with Haruka and Sora-chan will take, but… If we could meet back here in half an hour, does that sound good?" Everyone nodded to Hideki, who clapped his hands together as another radiant smile appeared on his face.

"Fine by me. We'll get ready, then." Yukinoshita replied.

"Oh, I want to go and quickly nab something from the convenience store, before we like, all hang out." Yumiko said as Yukinoshita was about to start making her way to the lift.

"Couldn't you ' _nab_ ' it afterwards, when we're all together? That would save time, would it not?" Yukinoshita asked, puzzled.

"Well, I was like, planning on going and doing it anyway, and we've got half an hour, right?" Yumiko looked towards Hideki, who gave the blonde a slight nod. "No need to worry about saving time, right?"

"Yumi's right, Yuki." Hikigaya said to her girlfriend(s).

"See, he gets it? Right, let's go Hikio! You're going to carry my bags for me~!" In a sing-song voice, Yumiko grabbed Hikigaya by the arm and started to drag him towards the exit, the raven-haired young man looking back at us in embarrassment.

"Wait, Miura-san! I won't allow you to just go off with Hachi like that!" Yukinoshita protested and took a few steps towards the pair, then stopped to face the rest of us. "I'm sorry about this. We'll meet you here in half an hour, Minaduki-san." Yukinoshita bowed politely, then ran off after Yumiko and Hikigaya.

"Heh, I definitely won't be bored any time soon..." Hideki said quietly, then turned back to face Sora and I. "Shall we go up to your room for some privacy?" I nodded to Hideki, and the three of us began to make our way to the lift.

"I'll see you in half an hour then, I guess." Haruno said as she walked away from us, towards the stairs. "As much as I would love to go up with you guys, I wouldn't want the lift to get cramped." She then continued with a wink, pointing towards a figure standing by the lift, waiting for it to arrive. _Oh, it's Mikami. I thought he already went back up, but I guess he must have been talking with Harri, or something._ I thought as the three of us walked up to Mikami, who spared a small glance towards us as we stopped to wait for the lift next to him.

"You were Mikami Teru, right?" Hideki asked from Mikami, who glanced at him again, giving him a small nod in reply. "What do you do for work? I'm curious." Hideki continued as the lift arrived, and we entered it, with Mikami pressing the button for the third floor.

"I'm a lawyer. Ever since I was young, I've had a strong feeling of _justice_ , and this line of work allowed me to dish it out against those who had done wrong." Mikami explained. "Although, I will admit that it hasn't always been what I envisioned, but it is good work, and I do enjoy it."

"Ah, I see. A lawyer, huh… So I'm guessing you know Japanese law inside out by this point?" Hideki continued to question Mikami, who eyed the older (at least, that was my guess, given that Hideki had known our parents, I had never actually asked Hideki about his age) man for a few seconds before answering.

"Well, I wouldn't say inside out, but… I do know it quite thoroughly, yes. Comes with the job." Mikami paused for a moment, then continued in a lower tone. "You wouldn't be looking for information on any possible _loopholes_ , would you, Minaduki-san?" _Wait… If that is what Hideki is going for…_

"Hm? Oh, that's not why I asked. I live here in Finland anyway, so knowing loopholes in the law back in Japan wouldn't do me any good anyway." Hideki replied, and we felt the lift slow to a halt as it arrived on the third floor.

"Well, it's not like I _wouldn't_ have told you. As long as your interest in them didn't involve exploiting them for criminal activity, that is." Mikami said and stepped out of the lift, with the three of us following right after. "Right, I'll be taking my leave now." With a glance sent towards Sora and I, Mikami began to walk over to his room.

"I hope we get the chance to talk some more at some point!" Mikami stopped and turned too look at Hideki for a few moments, then continued on without saying a word. "I'm guessing he's not the talkative type, huh?" Hideki said to nobody in particular as he watched the black-haired man enter his room, then turned to us. "So… your room?"

"Ah, right. It's the one at the back." I said and pointed towards the end of the hallway, with Hideki nodding to me.

"Tomoya-san and Kyou-san are in the room opposite to ours." Sora – who had been quiet until now – said as we got closer. "And Yukino-san, Hikigaya-san and Yumiko-san share this one." She pointed at the room we passed by, her gaze lingering on it for a few seconds.

"I said it before, but I really am glad you've been able to make friends here. Especially you, Sora-chan." Hideki said to my sister with a smile. "Even the Okazakis were praising how nice you've been, and especially Kyou-san seemed to have a particular fondness for you." I saw a slight blush on Sora's face, and felt her taking a hold of my hand as we walked.

"Ah… yes, we… Have grown quite close… I suppose..." Sora said quietly as she looked away, not meeting mine or Hideki's gaze. _Did something happen? I hope it's not something bad…_ We stopped at the door to our room, and I got a better view of my sister's face as I took out my key to open the door, and saw that she was smiling. _Well, she wouldn't have that face if something bad happened. I sometimes worry too much._

I opened the door to our room, then moved out of the way so Hideki and Sora could enter, closing and locking the door behind me as I entered last. The three of us quietly made our way inside, with Sora flopping down on the bed and taking the fox plushie on it into her embrace. Hideki glanced around the room, then pulled up a chair next to the bed as I sat down on it next to Sora.

"So… I believe you said in the phone call that none of the people here know about you two, except from… who?" Hideki asked, his tone a little more serious than before.

"Right, that I did. I didn't want to go into detail on Thursday, because Haruno-san was right there when I answered you." Hideki nodded to me, and I glanced at the door before continuing. "Hikigaya and Yumiko-san know about us, and they accept our relationship, seeing nothing wrong with it."

"I see. How about the Yukinoshita siblings, then?" Hideki asked.

"Haruno-san doesn't know – she only arrived here on Thursday – and we would prefer to keep it that way. However… She is very sharp, and I'm certain she knows that _something_ she isn't aware of is going on." Hideki furrowed his brow a little, seemingly thinking about my words. "Haruno-san… isn't what she looks like on the surface. Her sister will be able to tell you more, but… In short, she keeps up a _facade_. She isn't to be trusted." Hideki thought for a few more moments, then gave me a slow nod. "And as for Yukinoshita-san, err… _Yukino-san_ , she… It's a little complicated."

"Oh? Does it… have something to do with the… _hostility_ she displayed back in Oulu?" Hideki asked, tilting his head slightly. "You seemed to get along fine, now."

"She saw us kiss back then." Sora said as she sat upright on the bed, the fox plushie still in her embrace. "That was the reason for the way she acted towards us, and initially, she continued to act that way here. Then, we managed to _trick_ her into thinking we _weren't_ in that kind of relationship, but… it didn't last long." Sora paused for a moment in her explanation, and I placed a hand on hers to reassure her, and my sister looked towards me and smiled. "But, it's all good now. She's… How should I explain it..?"

"She's… _observing_ us." I finished Sora's sentence, turning to look at Hideki again. _I need to be careful with my words here_ _to keep their_ secret… _Well, secret_ _._ "After I admitted to Yukinoshita-san that we had been _untruthful_ with her on Thursday, she confronted us about our relationship. During that confrontation, and after some alone thinking, she realized that the idea of a relationship like ours between siblings being ' _wrong_ ' was simply something that society had _forced_ her to believe, so now she's willing to give us the chance to… _prove that wrong_ , you could say. Yukinoshita-san wants to observe us, and formulate her own sense of morality based on those observations." Hideki nodded to me understandingly as I finished.

"Hmmm… Yeah, I think I get it. So she essentially values individualism, then?" I nodded to Hideki as a reply.

"Precisely. And given her past, and current relationship with Hikigaya… She has a lot ' _against_ ' society, so it wasn't too hard for her to push the idea of a romantic sibling relationship being immoral out of her mind, since it was society that implanted that belief into her head in the first place. And I also believe that deep down, she genuinely wants to accept mine and Sora's relationship, which is why she's so willing to do this." I looked back at my sister with a smile, which she returned to me.

"That is good to hear. But, what do you mean by her… ' _having a lot against society_ '? And what of her relationship with her boyfriend?" At Hideki's question, I realized I may have spoken too much. _Okay, no need to worry. There's still a way to salvage this._

"Oh, Yukinoshita-san has been… _bullied_ , and _ostracised_ in the past by her peers, and Hikigaya is very ' _anti-society_ ' himself, and he rubs off on her. That, and Yukinoshita-san's family doesn't quite approve of her being together with Hikigaya – her sister being an exception." I replied to Hideki.

"Ah, I see. The _Yukinoshitas_ , huh… I did a little research yesterday, but didn't find out much other than what you told me. A big name in Chiba, and even in Tokyo, with a few footholds here and there in other prefectures, but nothing nation-wide. The head of the family is a member of the Chiba diet, though from my research, it seems his wife leads the matters of the family in most cases outside of the prefecture politics." Hideki said, bringing a hand to his chin as he thought.

"They'll be Yukinoshita-san's and Haruno-san's parents, then. Their mother is especially against Yukinoshita-san being engaged with Hikigaya, from what I know. And… that's about all I _can_ say. If you want to know more, you'll have to ask her yourself, though I'm not sure she'll be willing to share." _I fear that I may have overstepped my bounds slightly here. Of course, Hideki is a trustworthy individual, and is an outsider to all of this, but_ _Yukinoshita-san made it very clear that she doesn't want anyone outside of our small circle finding out about her plans._

"That's alright, I was planning on asking her about her family anyway at some point – among other things. Right, back on track. So, Hikigaya, Miura and the younger of the Yukinoshita siblings know about you two, but the others believe you are simply normal siblings?" Sora and I nodded to Hideki. "Alright, splendid. Now, shall we get ready for our little outing together with them?" Hideki rose from his seat, and I looked at Sora again.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Haru. Though we might need a quick change of clothes." Sora lifted an arm up to highlight the fact that she was still wearing her nightgown underneath her shirt, having only quickly thrown it on after I woke her up this morning.

"I'll be waiting down in the lobby, then. See you soon!" Hideki walked over to the door in order to exit our room.

"See you!" I replied back to him as he stepped outside, giving us one last glance and smile before he closed the door behind him, leaving Sora and I alone in the room. "So, change of clothes?" I turned to face my sister again, who averted her gaze from me, biting her lip slightly.

"Well… I was thinking… Since we've got a bit of spare time… Before we get ready, we could…" Sora looked back at me as her hand glided over to rest on my thigh, her fingers creeping towards my crotch. "Can we? It wouldn't take long." As I looked into her eyes, I could see the _hunger_ in them, and just seeing Sora's lust for me was starting to make me aroused – which I doubt Sora missed, as her lips twisted into a slight smirk.

"I… really don't think we should, Sora..." I replied, but my sister ignored me and continued to close the distance between her hand and my groin.

"Come on, Haru. I know you want to do it..." Sora's hand stopped once it reached its target, and she began to gently caress the bulge growing with each passing second. _She's doing quite a good job at persuading me…_ "It will be quick. I'm confident I can make you go over the edge in under a minute." Sora pressed her hand down a little rougher, licking her lips as she gazed into my eyes.

"Gah, you're too erotic, Sora..." I said and a mischievous smile appeared on my sister's face.

"Is that a yes?" Sora's hands were ready to take down my pants at any second as she waited for my approval.

"I'll only let you _blow_ me, Sora. We have spare time, but we don't want to keep the others waiting." Sora looked a little disappointed for a moment, but then jumped down from the bed and knelt before me, pulling down my pants at the same time.

"It'll feel like a waste, since we _are_ trying to get me pregnant, but fine." Sora said as she pulled off my underwear, exposing my half-hard member to her. "Always the lively one, aren't you, Haru?" Sora licked her lips again and wrapped her hand around my shaft, looking up at me with her grey eyes full of lust. It didn't take long for Sora's handjob to bring me to full mast, a which point my sister moved in to take all of my into her mouth.

"Ah, Sora… If you do do it… that quickly…" I let out a grunt of pleasure as Sora swallowed down my entire shaft in one motion, beginning to vigorously suck it while stroking the base with her right hand, her tongue licking up and down my member as it pumped in and out of her mouth. _Sora's gotten… real good at this…_ I covered my mouth with my hand, lest anyone outside hear my muffled grunting and panting caused by Sora's technique with her mouth, my free hand finding its way to rest of Sora's head as it bobbed up and down. And as my sister had predicted, it didn't take long until a familiar feeling welled up inside me. "Sora… I'm going to..." A gasp escaped my mouth as Sora picked up her pace, my member disappearing fully into her mouth at least twice a second. My sister looked up at me, narrowing her eyes slightly as she did her best to smile – though it was difficult, given that her mouth was full. "Sora… I… I… Agh!" I let my voice leak out as my pleasure peaked, not able to hold back any longer. Sora's movements stopped as she swallowed my shaft all the way down, her face pressing against my lower stomach as the floodgates opened. One of the most intense orgasms I could remember washed over me, my member twitching in Sora's mouth as it deposited its warm, sticky load down her throat. I saw tears welling up in my sister's eyes, but didn't – _couldn't –_ pay attention to them as I shot rope after rope of semen into her mouth, the feeling of ecstasy that washed over my body overpowering any other feeling. After what felt like a minute of straight orgasming, Sora finally freed my slowly softening member from her mouth, coughing a few times before swallowing any remnants of my seed that were left in her mouth.

"Haaah… Thanks for the meal, Haru." Sora said as she licked her lips, then proceeded to clean her fingers.

"Haaa… You're… Welcome…" I was panting for breath, feeling almost like Sora had sucked the energy right out of me. "That was… something else, alright…"

"I've had the chance to practice with you every night, what did you expect?" Sora replied and used her finger to wipe a bit of drool off my face, licking up my saliva from her fingers, the sight causing my arousal to return at full force. "Looks like you're ready for round two, Haru..." Sora said and smiled mischievously as she took a hold of my dick again, now slowly growing harder.

"We shouldn't. Let's get dressed." Sora frowned at my words, letting out a small sigh before nodding to me understandingly.

"Yeah, I get it. But, I don't think I need to tell you what we'll be doing after we get back." Sora leaned in and kissed me, her tongue wrestling with mine for a few seconds before she pulled away with a smirk on her face.

"Of course, Sora. You have my word, dear sister." I reached out with my hand and ran my fingers through Sora's hair, leaning in to kiss her again – this time on the forehead – as she smiled at me. "Right, let's not keep Hideki and the others waiting any longer."

After quickly cleaning ourselves up and changing our clothes, the two of us made our way downstairs to meet up with Hideki, Yumiko, Hikigaya, Yukinoshita, and her sister. And despite the feeling I had that Haruno's involvement would cause some trouble, I was looking forwards to spending time with them.

Spending time with _friends_ who accepted mine and Sora's relationship.

* * *

"That place had some quality coffee! Where are we going next, Haru~!"

"Erm, you're better off asking Yumiko-san, Haruno-san. I don't really know this city that well, even after spending about a week here..."

As we stepped outside of the cafe we had spent the last half an hour inside of – the same one we visited with Hikigaya, Yukino and Yumiko earlier in the week – I resisted the urge to glare at the older woman currently clinging onto Haru, grinding my teeth as I forced my gaze forwards. _I thought that maybe since Hideki was with us, she would_ _stop doing that, but it seems I was wrong…_

After our little " _session_ " together, – and a change of clothes (I decided to wear the white shirt and light blue skirt Yumiko had bought for me on Wednesday, covered by a grey cardigan, while Haru wore a simple black t-shirt and jeans) – Haru and I met up with Hideki down in the lobby, finding him in the middle of a conversation with Yukinoshita Haruno. I was more than a little irritated that she was accompanying us today, because it meant Haru and I couldn't be all lovey-dovey together (which also meant that we couldn't "help" Yukino with the attempted _rebuilding_ of her morals today), but kept my irritation to myself. If what Haru told me about Yukinoshita Haruno was true, voicing my irritation would most likely have only fuelled the fire even further, so to speak. She had behaved herself as we waited for Hikigaya, Yumiko and Yukino to arrive, chatting away with Hideki about various things ranging from her family and their standing to Hideki's life in Finland, but once the three Chiba Uni students arrived, it was almost as if something clicked, and Yukinoshita Haruno showed us a bit of her other side. She immediately ran up to Hikigaya and began pestering him and being overly physical, earning sour looks from his two female companions. Once her younger sister told her off, she gave up and switched targets, locking onto my brother. And she had stayed practically glued to his side the entire time, despite the fact that Haru tried to convey to her that he was not comfortable with it at all. _A big part of me wants to just pull Haru away from her and reveal our relationship to her, if only to get her off Haru, but… Haru said that we should avoid letting her know at all costs, and I remember both Hikigaya-san and Yumiko-san saying something similar yesterday. It's a pain, but I have to endure it. If Hikigaya-san is to be believed, she'll get bored eventually if Haru doesn't give her the reactions she seeks._ _So far, though, that doesn't seem to be the case…_

"I must say, Haruno-san… I didn't expect you to become so… _attached_ to Haruka. Your image right now is quite different from the one I had when we spoke earlier." Hideki's words brought me out of my _dark_ thoughts, and they seemed to get Yukinoshita Haruno's attention as well.

"Hm? Really? Well, I can't help myself from _teasing_ members of the opposite sex a little, especially ones as handsome as Haru, here. And given that Haru hasn't mentioned any possible _girlfriend_ he might have… Even better for me." The elder Yukinoshita replied and poked Haru on the cheek, and I felt my brow twitching. _This woman…_ "I'm joking, of course~! Unfortunately for me, since _Hachi_ has already been claimed by my little sis, I have to look somewhere else for company." Upon hearing her sister using the affectionate nickname she had given to Hikigaya, Yukino's face twisted into a slight scowl, and I could almost hear her sigh.

"Please refrain from calling me that." Hikigaya said to Yukino's sister, sending a glare her way, and I heard a quiet ' _How mean!_ ' coming from the older woman's mouth as she made a shocked face. Something about the face felt _fake_ , though.

"Haru might be single, but that's because he has _me_ to take care of. I… probably wouldn't be able to make it without my brother." I said and crossed my arms as our group came to a stop, with Yukinoshita Haruno looking at me with intrigue.

"Is that so? That makes you rather _possessive_ of your brother, does it not? You're nearly an adult, Sora-chan, you need to learn how to sustain yourself." She replied to me. "Your brother won't be around forever, you know." I resisted the urge to bite my lip, keeping my gaze fixated to hers. _I need to choose my words carefully._

"I… I know I have to be able to stand on my own, but… with my _condition_ , I need Haru's help. Haru knows this as well." I shifted my gaze to my brother, who gave me a smile as he dislodged himself from Yukinoshita Haruno's grip.

"I've already told you that we don't have any other family, Haruno-san." Haru said and took a step away from the older woman. "We promised that we'd stay together, and I have no intentions of breaking that promise any time soon. And I don't see it as Sora being ' _possessive_ ' in any way." Haru paused for a moment, taking my hand into his own. "I'm completely fine with just being with Sora for now. And if I ever… got a… you know, _girlfriend_..." Haru glanced at me briefly before continuing, as if looking for my approval to whatever he was about to say, and I gave him a slight nod. "...She would have to be someone who is willing to help me take care of Sora. My sister is the most important person to me in the world, and nothing is going to change that." Haru smiled at me, and despite knowing that what he said was simply the obvious truth, I felt my heart skipping a beat.

"Haru..." I gripped onto my brother's hand a little tighter, and Haru patted my head with his free hand. _Everyone else be damned, I really want to kiss him right now…_

"They've gone through a lot, Haruno-san. I knew their late parents, and I'm sure they would be happy that their children are staying strong by keeping together." Hideki said, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure you can understand that the two of them are extremely close, since they have no-one else to turn to but themselves. You can allow Sora-chan to be a little ' _possessive_ ', as you put it, right?" Yukinoshita Haruno looked at the three of us for a long while, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see her younger sister gazing down at the ground with a thoughtful look on her face.

"I get you. Sorry if I made it seem like I was trying to take Haru away from you, Sora-chan." The elder Yukinoshita said with a smile after a while. Just like her shock at Hikigaya's words earlier, though, something felt _off_ about her smile, though in a different way from before. _Before, the face she made felt fake and exaggerated in a playful way, but that smile… It just feels eerily off._ "I sympathize with you two, of course. Losing your parents is quite tough, I can imagine. It's just that… It's in my nature to be like this, you know? Of course, I can stop it if it really annoys you that much..." From the sudden change in her tone of voice, it seemed like Yukinoshita Haruno was now trying to plead, or _manipulate_ us into letting her continue with it. _Haru is a nice person, especially when it comes to women, but… He should know better than this._

"I would appreciate that. I tried not to voice it directly, but I would very much like it if you stopped." Haru said, and I felt a slight smile forming on my face. "What I will say directly, however, is that I am not interested in you, Haruno-san. And even if I was, I'm not trying to get into a relationship currently, given that mine and Sora's future is still a little uncertain." The older woman's eyes widened a little at Haru's words, out of genuine surprise, it seemed.

"Interesting indeed..." A quiet mumble came from the black-haired woman, before she shook her head a little and looked at Haru again. "Maybe Yukino-chan _is_ more of your type after all then, hmm? Anyway, sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Haru. Now, shall we get going?" I saw Hikigaya's eyes narrowing after he heard Yukinoshita Haruno's words, and the raven-haired young man's eyes met mine briefly as he looked towards us. _Hikigaya-san has had to_ endure _Yukinoshita Haruno the most, and he also knows the most about her – possibly even more than Yukino-san does. I wonder what he's picking up from her behaviour…_

"Right, you were like, kinda into that conversation, so I took the time to go through some of the places I had jotted down earlier again." Yumiko spoke out, lifting up her phone as she did and pointing at a list of some sort she had written down. "We could like, have a walk around this pedestrian zone, since there's plenty of stores and the like here, then go and have a look at some of the shopping centres, if that's alright?" Yumiko looked at each of us in turn, and we gave her nods of approval.

"Sounds good to me! This is my first time here, so I'm excited to see what this city has to offer." Yukinoshita Haruno said with a gleam in her eyes.

"I'm somewhat familiar with Rovaniemi, so I'm more than happy to help with this sightseeing trip of ours. And of course, I'm more than eager to hear some more of your stories." Hideki then said. Yumiko and Yukino had told him quite a bit while we were at the cafe, but Hikigaya had said barely anything, I could tell Hideki was curious about the apathetic young man. _I almost feel bad for him, since I know he's going to have to endure Hideki's endless questions…_ Almost _._ I thought with a slight smirk on my face.

After we all agreed to Yumiko's plan, we began to walk around the pedestrian zone, consisting mostly of a long street, the west end meeting the shopping centre where we had spent a large portion of the day on Wednesday, and the east end continuing downhill to the shore of one of the two rivers that ran through the city – which was also where our hotel was located, next to the Lumberjack's Candle Bridge. Since we had already seen the east end of the street on our way to the cafe, we decided to go west along the street, towards the dual shopping centre. Passing by multiple different stores – and stopping to gaze at a few of them – we slowly made our way through the long street, the conversation being kept going mostly by Hideki and Yukinoshita Haruno, with the rest of us joining in every now and then. The atmosphere we had going on didn't feel strained in any way, though. Even with the presence of Yukinoshita Haruno, I felt at ease, being together on an outing with my friends. _If the me from a month ago was told that I would one day enjoy spending time like this with someone else other than Haru, they wouldn't believe a single word of it. But… I guess I really have changed ever since coming here with Haru, huh?_ As we stood by a crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn green, I found my gaze wandering to everyone Haru and I were accompanied by.

 _Yumiko-san and I got off to a bit of a bad start, but we realized our errors and became friends quickly afterwards. At first, I thought she was just some arrogant,_ _pompous "pretty girl", but after spending time with her, that idea changed completely. Yumiko-san is caring, almost motherly in a way, and while I do feel that she thinks highly of herself, it isn't up to the level of arrogance. Though given what I've heard from Hikigaya-san, she was once like that – but he changed her. Speaking of him…_ I let my gaze lock onto the raven-haired young man, who – seemingly noticing my gaze – glanced back at me, our eyes meeting briefly before he shifted his gaze back to the traffic lights. _Hikigaya-san is cynical, a bit weird, – sometimes even creepy – and his eyes and personality both match that of a rotten fish, as Yukino-san would put it. However… There is a_ kindness _in those eyes of his. He may not show it often, and I would even say that he_ prefers _not to show it, but he is as caring and gentle as Haru is. It's no wonder that both Yumiko-san and Yukino-san fell for him._ The light turned green, and our little group began to make our way across the road, planning to go through both of the shopping centres before having a break. As I followed along, being lead by the hand by Haru, my thoughts wandered back to the friends I was with. _If Yumiko-san and I had a "bad" start, then what Yukino-san and I had when we initially got to know each other was catastrophic. But, once again, we made it through the hardships – initially with deceit, and then with honesty – and became closer as a result. We're similar in a way, both being "quiet girls", and our similarities helped us get close. Now I just have to hope that Yukino-san can find it in herself_ _to fully accept the relationship I have with my brother._ I felt a smile growing on my face as we walked down the hallways of the shopping centre. _I'm glad I met and befriended the three of them. Oh, and of course I can't forget Tomoya-san and Kyou-san. I hope we can be honest with them as well, one day._

"Hey, don't these look similar to the ring Sora-chan is wearing?" Hearing my name, I was brought out of my thoughts, and noticed that we had come to a halt at a jewellery store – the very same one Haru had bought my ring from.

"Hmmm… I hadn't even noticed the ring before you mentioned it, Haruno-san." Hideki replied to the woman currently examining the various pieces of jewellery on display, while he himself looked at my right hand. "That's a swan, is it not? On your ring?" I lifted my right hand, and suddenly everyone's eyes seemed to be on me, looking at my ring with varying levels of intrigue.

"Oh, yes, it is. Haru never specifically stated where he bought it from, but… This is probably the place." I said and glanced at Haru, who was currently looking at the employee standing next to Haruno-san, and I heard him release what felt like a sigh of relief as he quietly muttered something about a ' _Different employee_ '.

"Ah, um… Yes, I bough he ring here. It's… a bit embarrassing, really..." Haru said and scratched his chin awkwardly.

"I think the ring looks like, totally pretty on Sora. I'm kinda jealous, actually. I wish I had a nice brother like you do." Yumiko said as she took my hand and examined the silver ring in more detail. "Although, I guess Hikio is kind of like a little brother. A mean, annoying little brother who I have to take care of even more than Yukinoshita has to, that is." Yumiko grinned as she let go of my hand and crossed her hands triumphantly, seemingly proud of her little jab at Hikigaya.

"Well, if you see me as a little brother, then that must mean that you're a brocon, Yumi, given that you've been willing to put up with me being your friend for the past few years." Hikigaya replied cockily, and I saw Yumiko's eye twitch slightly. _Of course, they're mor_ _e_ _than just 'friends',_ _but Yumiko-san knows that with other people around, they need to keep that a secret._ "Oh, and have you forgotten that I'm also older than you, Yumi? When was your birthday again? Ah, right, in December-" Hikigaya was cut off by Yumiko hitting him in the stomach, her face now covered by a bright blush.

"Geez, I get it I get it. Seriously, you're so _childish_ sometimes, Hikio." Yumiko looked away and pouted, while Hikigaya held his stomach in pain and Yukino let out a little giggle, and even I could feel a smile forming on my face.

"You know, I never expected that you of all people would get along with Hikigaya-kun and Yukino-chan." Yukinoshita Haruno said, bringing the blonde girl's attention to herself. "I remember you becoming friends with Hikigaya-kun back in High School, but I didn't expect it to last as long as it had. Weren't you obsessed with Hayato back then?" I could see the look on Yumiko's face twisting into a scowl at the mention of this 'Hayato', and she let out a sigh before responding.

"...I got over Hayato ages ago. The guy was a faker and a coward, I know that now, and have known for a long time. Good thing he got that scholarship into Tokyo Uni, I would rather _die_ than see his face every day." Yumiko said, her mood having soured noticeably. _I guess she must have some bad history with this Hayato fellow?_ _Yukinoshita_ _-san said that she was '_ obsessed _'_ _with him… Perhaps a first crush of some sort?_

"Hmmm… Well, Hayato is quite a _boring_ individual, I must say. Perhaps we can get along as well, Miura-san?" Yukinoshita Haruno said with a slightly eerie smile, then put down the bit of jewellery – a necklace, by the looks – that she had had in her hands the entire time, the jewellery store employee closing the display case after her. "Though, it is interesting that you chose to buy a _ring_ for your sister, Haru. Any specific reason for that?" The older woman came up to as and leaned closer to Haru, who in turn took a step away from her.

"N-not really, no. It was… relatively cheap, concerning our dwindling budget, and I thought that a ring would fit Sora better than a necklace." Haru replied. "And it was recommended to me when I asked about a gift for my sister." He explained, while Yukinoshita Haruno looked at him with an unreadable, unchanging expression. _Does she… suspect something?_

"Alright, if you say so. Nothing wrong with buying a gift for your sister, of course. Just thought that jewellery would not be first on the list of things I'd want to buy for Yukino-chan." The girl in question tensed up a little at the mention of her name, but her sister ignored it. "But, I understand how important your sister is to you, Haru, given that you have no other family and all that." Yukinoshita Haruno finished with a smile, then turned away and began to make her way down the hallway. "Now, I noticed that there's an ice cream place here, and I could do with some right now! How about it, everyone?"

"I wouldn't mind, I've heard about the place from some of my friends here, but I've never had a chance to test it out." Hideki replied, then turned to the rest of us. "Have any of you tasted the ice cream there?"

"Yes, we ate here earlier this week. Though, a second time won't hurt." Yukino replied, then glanced at Haru and I, and we nodded to her.

Now being led by the second-oldest in our group, we went to order some ice cream, and sat down to enjoy them at a table. If Yumiko, Yukino and I drew curious stares from passerbys on Wednesday, now with the addition of Yukinoshita's sister, there was practically no-one who didn't gaze at our group as they walked past. Even I had to admit that she was a beautiful young woman, who could probably get any man to fall for her without exerting much effort at all, though my absolute faith in Haru kept away any anxiety. However, having heard things about her from both Hikigaya and Yukino, I couldn't help but feel uneasy around her. I didn't have the ability to read people as well as Hikigaya, nor the social skills of Haru, so I couldn't tell what it was about her that made me feel uneasy, but I suspected that if I didn't have knowledge of what she was really like – according to Yukino and her boyfriend, at least – from beforehand, I wouldn't have had this feeling of uneasiness. _She wears a facade to appear like that to others, and the persona she has is a fake. That's what I've_ _heard, but if I hadn't been told that_ _, I would have probably believed_ _this was what she's really like._

"So, what do you think of Rovaniemi, Sora-chan?" I was pulled out of my thoughts by Hideki, and I snapped my head to look towards him.

"Sorry?" I averted my gaze from him, feeling a little embarrassed that I was "caught" spacing out into my own thoughts when everyone else was engaging in conversation. As I looked away, though, something caught my eye. Sitting at a table a little away from us was a person who was likely the only one who _didn't_ have her eyes on us, despite all of the other customers either outright staring at us, or stealing glances at us. And, upon a closer inspection, it was clear why the woman wasn't interested in a group of tourists enjoying ice cream: She was slowly and quietly rocking a _stroller_ with a baby in it.

"Oh, I was just asking what you thought of the city, now that you've spent some time here." I turned back to Hideki, but my gaze kept wandering towards the woman. _Is it her own child? I would guess that it is…_ "It's a bit bigger than Taivalkoski, right?"

"Ah, yes, it is. I… kinda like it, I guess. It's not as large as the capital was, nor is it as packed as the cities back home, but… I like it that way. Big enough to be an actual city, but small enough to not suffocate in the sheer amount of people." I replied to Hideki, only half paying attention to him, as I found myself unable to take my eyes off the woman and her(?) baby. _She looks… happy._

"Well, that's good to hear. And I totally get you on that, though I will always be biased towards the smaller locales, such as Taivalkoski." Hideki said, and I saw his gaze following mine towards the woman off to the side. "Isn't that a nice sight?" Once I realized that Hideki had noticed me staring at the woman, I quickly looked away, feeling a slight heat on my cheeks.

"A-ah, I just..." My gaze darted around, not really knowing where I should look, and I saw Yumiko sending me a bit of a worried glance, though she didn't say anything, being currently in a conversation with Yukinoshita Haruno.

"It's alright, Sora-chan. I understand why you're… _curious_." Hideki said and glanced at the others with us. "Have you… told any of them what you're planning?" He then continued in a lower tone.

"Hikigaya knows." I replied, and noticed the black-haired boy looking in my direction, no doubt because his keen ears heard me mention his name. "No-one else does, but..." I hesitated before I told Hideki about the things Haru and I discussed with Tomoya and Kyou, respectively. _It might be a little risky to talk about that with everyone else around… But how can I talk with him privately?_ Suddenly, a random thought entered my mind relating to what I had talked about with Kyou on Thursday. _The pregnancy test! Of course, now that Hideki is here, I could get him to get one for me!_

"Sora-chan?" Hideki looked at me with a puzzled expression, and I realized I had been quiet for a while.

"Ah, sorry. I just..." I glanced towards the other side of the table, and saw Yukino eyeing me curiously. "I… need to go to the toilet real quick, Sorry, I'll be right back."

"Oh, don't worry, Sora. We'll wait for you here." Yumiko replied to me, and Yukino nodded next to her.

"Thanks, I won't be long." As I turned around, I looked Hideki directly in the eyes and 'accidentally' brushed my hand against his arm, slightly tugging on the sleeve of his shirt. _Come on, Hideki. Get the hint. I need to talk with you privately._ I didn't linger for long and started to make my way to where I remembered Hikigaya, Yumiko and Yukino going on Wednesday when they left us.

"I think I need to go as well." I heard Hideki's voice from behind me accompanied by the sound of a chair being moved. "Sora-chan, could you show me where the toilets are?" I turned around and suppressed the smile that was about to appear on my face to the best of my ability.

"Of course I can." I replied to Hideki and met Haru's eyes as he looked at me with a slightly puzzled expression on his face. _I'll have to tell him later. I surprised him with the news that I might be pregnant, and I want to surprise him again if and when I get confirmation._ I waited until Hideki caught up with me, and the two of us began to make our way to the toilets together.

"So, what were you about to say that you didn't want the others – even Haruka – to hear?" Hideki asked once we had gotten a decent distance away.

"Good thing you caught on, Hideki." I replied. "Haru already knows this, but… Well, what I was about to say relates to Kyou-san and Tomoya-san."

"The young couple with the child?" I nodded to Hideki as we stepped onto an escalator and began to descend down into the basement of the shopping centre, where the toilets were located.

"Haru and I have told them that… We're planning on raising a child together. But, we've made them believe that the child wouldn't be _ours_ , of course."

"Right… but in reality, the child will… _come from your union_?" I nodded again. "How did they take it?" We stepped off the escalator and turned right, entering the underground car park beneath the shopping centre, the toilets just next to us.

"Kyou-san has been giving me advice on how to be a good mother, and Haru has told me that Tomoya-san is… _supportive_ of the idea, to some degree. Apparently, he even offered to temporarily get married to me so I could get artificially inseminated, since we – obviously – want the child to be biologically mine." I saw Hideki's eyes widening a little at my words, but he didn't say anything. "But, that isn't exactly why I wanted to talk to you alone, Hideki." We stopped just before we entered the toilets, and I glanced around, seeing nobody close to us. _It's okay, nobody is here to listen in. Why am I so paranoid all of a sudden?_ "I… I want you to go to a pharmacy and… buy me… a _pregnancy test_ , Hideki. I'm… sure I don't need to tell you what for." If his eyes were were wide before, they were practically the size of plates now.

"A… pregnancy test? So are you already..? Have you missed a period?" Hideki asked, and I could hear some slight excitement in his voice.

"Missed a period?" I tilted my head at Hideki. _What does he mean by that? Wait, he couldn't mean…_

"Er, your… _menstruation cycle_ , that is." Hideki answered the question I posed in my head. _Right, of course._ _I should have realized that. I didn't expect him to say something like that._ "Missing a period is one of the first signs of pregnancy."

"Right, yes, Kyou-san said that as well, and I remember reading about it… Nevermind. I… haven't really been paying attention to my cycle… I might have? I couldn't tell you right now. But, I _have_ been feeling a little sick in the mornings, and Kyou-san mentioned that she was going to try and get her hands on a pregnancy test, given that she's also… _trying_." I felt a slight blush creeping onto my face, but fought it off and continued. "I don't have any proof yet, but that's exactly why I want to do the test, but… I'm not sure where I could buy one, or if I was even allowed to buy one as a foreigner." Hideki brought a finger to his chin and thought for a moment before answering.

"I think I get you, Sora. Alright, I'll go and get you a pregnancy test from a pharmacy nearby." Hideki said to me with a smile.

"Really? I would… appreciate it. Sorry, I'm not good with words." Hideki chuckled a little at my response, and I felt him placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's no problem. I'm pretty sure they're quite cheap anyway. Just tell the others that I had to go get some medicine while I'm here, okay?"

"I'll make up an excuse. Oh, and… Don't tell Haru. I… want to surprise him."

"Got it. I'll be on my way, then. I shouldn't be too long." I nodded to Hideki, who began to make his way out.

I watched as he made his way back inside, throwing me a wave before he went up the escalator and disappeared from my sight. _It was fortunate that Hideki decided to come and see us. Now I can finally see if mine and Haru's attempts have borne fruit._ I found my hand wandering down to lower stomach, and I smiled to myself as I thought of Haru and myself as parents. _If that happens to no_ _t_ _be the case, however, I'll probably have to start keeping a closer eye on my menstruation cycle, since I am trying to get pregnant. I've never really paid any close attention to it, though I think it's always been relatively regular, so it shouldn't be too hard to notice any missed periods… Then again, I've paid even_ less _attention to it recently, given everything that has happened. I could have already missed a period for all I know…_ As I thought over everything, I realized that I had been standing in the same spot for quite a while, the gazes of the people passing by causing me to return to reality. _Ah, well. I can worry about all that after the test. I should get back to the others now._

After shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I entered the shopping centre again, beginning to make my way back to the ice cream bar.

* * *

 **AN: And it's done. I did not intend for this chapter to take so long to come out (I wanted to have it finished some time last week, but DDLC and social interaction took away my writing time), so I do apologize for that. But, I can – for the first time – safely say that the next chapter will not take this long. You might even be able to expect it within two weeks, all depends on how soon I want to start on my other projects, but I won't make any promises.**

 **Until then, cheerio!**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Hello again, dear readers! So that "two weeks" I mentioned at the end of the last chapter didn't really turn out as planned, and I'm really sorry this took such a long time to come out. However, my other stories are now finished (only an epilogue remaining for one), so things should hopefully pick up. I've got plenty of planned projects (which I've now begun to list on my profile), but I won't be making the "mistake" of working on three stories simultaneously again, keeping it at two stories at max: this one and whichever project I start writing next. Though I do say that, I am planning on working on a third story on the side, but it will be just that, a side project, so it shouldn't affect my main projects too much.**

 **Now, before I start rambling again, let's get back into the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 16 – The Test**

"...And so, Hikio was like, totally embarrassed about that! You should have seen his face!" Yumiko couldn't hold in her laughter as she finished, while Yukinoshita Haruno continued to eat her ice cream with a small smile of amusement on her face.

"O-oi, t-that's not how things went." Hikigaya protested, his face slightly tinted red, and I smiled to myself at the exchange. _Yumiko-san and Haruno-san seem to get along quite fine – bo_ _t_ _h being outgoing extroverts – but I can tell something is off. Yumiko-san definitely does not like Haruno-san being around._ As I was observing the two women as they chatted, my vision was suddenly blocked, a pair of hands covering my eyes from behind.

"Guess who, Haru." The easily recognizable voice of my sister reached my ears. _Ah, she's back._

"By process of elimination… Sora." I said as I removed her delicate hands from my eyes and turned to face her, meeting Sora's grey orbs with my gaze. "Looks like I was right. Do I get a prize?" I asked with a smile, and Sora smiled back a me – rather mischievously, might I add.

"Oh, you'll get a prize, alright. But not right now." Sora replied as she took her seat, and I glanced behind her. _Where's Hideki? Still at the bathroom?_

"Ah, you've returned, Sora-san." Yukinoshita said, glancing briefly in the direction Sora came from. "Where is Minaduki-san? We've just about finished our ice creams, so we can move on once he returns."

"Oh, he suddenly remembered that he had to go visit the pharmacy, to buy some medicine. There's apparently one close by, he shouldn't be long." Sora replied and sent a quick glance in my direction. _Hideki had to go to the pharmacy? I…_ _can't remember him mentioning anything like that_ _…_

"Is that so? Well, I guess if he won't take long, we can probably wait here a bit?" Yukinoshita asked, her gaze shifting between all of us as Yumiko and I offered her nods of affirmation.

"Isn't it a little rude of him to suddenly go off on his own like that?" Haruno questioned as she finished the last of her ice cream. "We were supposed to be together."

"He… said that he was sorry, and that we could… continue on without him. He would catch up with us quickly." Sora replied. _That does sound like something Hideki would say. Still, having to go buy medicine so suddenly is a bit odd… Well, I guess there's no harm in it._

"We should like, stay somewhat close to here, though, so we don't get too separated." Yumiko said and then pointed at me. "You have his number, right, Haru?" I nodded in reply to the blonde and pulled out my phone. "Alright, you can like, tell him that we're still around, so he knows where to find us. We shouldn't leave the shopping centre until he comes back."

"Okay, I'll do that. Where are we going to next, then?" Yumiko brought a hand to her chin as she thought for a moment, briefly glancing at both Yukinoshita and her sister.

"I think there's still a couple of stores we didn't visit in the shopping centre that's adjoined with this one..." Yumiko said as she tried to remember all the places we had visited on Wednesday.

"So we could kill some time going through them while we wait for Minaduki-san to return? Sounds like a plan to me." Yukinoshita said and glanced between the rest of us, with her sister and Yumiko giving her slight nods of approval. "How about you, Sora-san? Have you… _rested_ enough?" The raven-haired girl then continued a little sheepishly, as if she was trying not to sound rude with the question.

"I'm fine, Yukino-san." Sora replied to her with a smile, then reached out a hand to place on top of mine, her smile twisting into a mischievous grin. "And should I collapse from exhaustion, Haru will be there to carry me. Isn't that right, oh dear brother of mine?" I smiled back at my sister wryly as she squeezed my hand slightly before turning to look at Hikigaya. "Although, Hikigaya-san seems to be the kind of person who is unable to help a girl in need, judging from his interactions with Yukino-san and Yumiko-san, so I'm sure he would be more than welcome to carry me as well." Sora then continued, while Hikigaya simply looked back at her with a dumbfounded expression.

"...Oi, what have you two been teaching to Sora?" Hikigaya said after a few moments of silence, shifting his gaze to Yukinoshita and Yumiko as he did, the latter of the two now giggling.

"Oh, you are absolutely right about that, Sora-san." Yukinoshita said with a smile and placed a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "In fact, I believe your brother could use a bit of a break, don't you think? I'll allow you to rely on Hikigaya-kun, should the need arise." Sora was now grinning cheekily, and I could see a smile of _genuine_ amusement on Haruno's face as well. _I guess all of them have common ground whenever 'insulting' Hikigaya… I kind of feel bad for him, but I know he doesn't take offence to it. I'm sure Yukinoshita-san could come up with some really mean insults if she actually meant it. However… I'm not sure if Haruno-san shares the same sentiments about the 'playfulness' of their banter – I get the feeling she might start insulting him for real if she felt like it._

"…Could you not talk of me as if I was something you owned?" While I speculated about the happenings inside Yukinoshita Haruno's head, the banter around me continued.

"Thank you, Yukino-san. I'll be careful not to _overexert_ him, so you can get some use out of him as well." Sora thanked Yukinoshita, while Hikigaya simply scowled.

"Could you not ignore me? This is bullying." Hikigaya crossed her arms, and I heard a quiet snort coming from Yumiko.

"Ah..." Yukinoshita was about to say something, but stopped once she looked at her boyfriend, her expression changing into one of concern. "Sorry, did we… go too far? You… you know we didn't mean it..." Yukinoshita suddenly apologized, showing the rare ' _caring girlfriend_ ' side of herself, and I saw Yumiko's expression changing as well. _And there you have it. They could be flinging insults at each other one moment, and then all lovey-dovey the next moment. In a way, I envy their relationship. I'm far too nice to insult Sora, even as a joke. But… We're content just being lovey-dovey, even if we don't take part in funny banter as they do._

"Well..." Hikigaya started, then sighed. "...You didn't. Sorry." Hikigaya then let a smile grace his features as he reached out a hand and patted Yukinoshita's head, and very briefly, I saw a flash of _envy_ on Yumiko's face. "But it's nice to see just how much you care about me every now and then, Yuki." Yukinoshita's cheeks became flushed and she quickly moved Hikigaya's hand away.

"You're not fair sometimes, Hachi..." Yukinoshita mumbled, and the moment was suddenly interrupted as Yumiko stood up from her chair with a screech.

"Right, shall we get going? Haru, tell Hideki-san about our plans. I need to get some more shopping done!" Yumiko gestured towards the hallway connecting the two shopping centres, visible just off to the side. _I have a feeling I know why she interrupted that just now… And I also get the feeling that Hikigaya is going to have to do some '_ making up _' for Yumiko-san when we all get back to the hotel._

After gathering what little things we had with us – and one final question about whether Sora was okay to walk more, this time from Yumiko, to which my sister simply replied that she would fine – the six of us started making our way to the second shopping centre, _Revontuli_ (which, I remember Harri telling us meant " _Aurora Borealis_ " in Finnish), to check out the remaining stores there. Once we settled at the first clothing store, I informed Hideki of our location, and shortly got a reply telling me he would be back with us soon.

Hikigaya and I stayed off the to side as the girls tried on various articles of clothing, with Yukinoshita joining us shortly (" _I've already bought enough clothes on this trip, any more would be excessive._ "), the three of us watching as Yumiko, Haruno and Sora tried on various outfits. Though, I did suspect Sora wasn't going to buy anything either – she knows as well as I do that our budget is dwindling – and was just doing it out of enjoyment, as she doesn't get many chances to do something like this. _I hope we can all meet up again_ _like this_ _after we return to Japan. Although… returning to Japan will have a whole new slew of problems and uncertainties for Sora and I. We were able to come to Finland_ _and "seek refuge" with Hideki, but who is to say that our remaining relatives won't simply try to separate us again when we return? I mean, I guess we could stay here in Finland, but we don't know the language, and I'm sure there's a plethora of different problems if we suddenly try to immigrate here…_

"Kasugano-kun?" A sudden feminine voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked towards the source to meet the ice-blue eyes of Yukinoshita Yukino.

"Ah, sorry, did you say something?" I asked and rubbed the back of my neck, glancing around us briefly. _How long was I absorbed in my thoughts for?_

"No, I was about to ask you something, though. You looked so thoughtful I didn't want to interrupt you." Yukinoshita replied and glanced briefly at Hikigaya, sitting down on a chair just next to her. "You… had quite a serious look on your face."

"Did I? Well, I guess I might have… Anyway, what is it you wanted to ask?" I pushed aside the topic in my head. _That will be something we can discuss with Hideki. It isn't a problem for us right now._ Yukinoshita studied my face for a few moments, and I began to feel slightly uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze.

"Well… I wanted to ask about Minaduki-san." Yukinoshita finally said. _About Hideki? Couldn't she have asked him herself?_ "Does he have some sort of illness? I found his sudden pharmacy visit odd." _Oh, right…_

"Not… to my knowledge, no. To be honest..." The curtain of the changing room was moved out of the way as Yumiko stepped out, dressed in a white-and-red sundress with a distinct floral pattern I hadn't seen before, twirling around as she demanded Hikigaya's opinion on it. "...I find it quite odd as well. But, maybe he's just run out of flu medicine, or something like that." Yukinoshita brought a finger to her chin as she thought for a moment, when Sora emerged from another changing room.

"Haru? How… do I look?" Sora asked from me as she spun around, mimicking Yumiko's movements a few moments prior – albeit more slowly than the blonde had. She was now wearing something which I had never seen – or even expected – her to wear: black form-fitting jeans, a black-and-white shirt with the same pattern as Yumiko's dress, covered by an open grey hoodie with the English text " _Peak Performance_ " written on it. Seeing Sora in such _casual_ clothing when I had become used to seeing her wear dresses and skirts shocked a little, and I couldn't say anything in reply for multiple seconds, my silence causing Sora to squirm in place awkwardly.

"So, what do you think, Haru?" I was once again pulled back to reality by a feminine voice, this time coming from Yumiko. "I picked out the clothes for her, since I figured they might Sora. The hoodie is nearly the same hue as her hair, and the jeans should accentuate it, but… With her figure, Sora might be more suited with the more ' _girly_ ' clothing she usually wears..." Yumiko continued as she eyed my sister up and down like some fashion guru, only adding to Sora's embarrassment.

"Haru..." Sora said quietly and pouted at my silence. _Ah._

"Oh, umm… It… looks good, I guess? Though I get where Yumiko-san is coming from." I replied and scratched my cheek a little. "It… kind of looks like something Maria would wear, now that I think about it." Sora's eyes widened a little as I mentioned Maria, then looked down at herself.

"Huh, I guess it does… Though this weird shirt wouldn't fit her, I think." Sora pulled slightly at the fabric of the shirt she was wearing underneath the hoodie. "I'll go change back. Sorry, Yumiko-san." Sora continued and looked towards the older girl with an apologetic look on her face.

"It's fine. You said you weren't going to buy anything anyway, but trying on new clothes is always good fun." Yumiko replied with a smile, and Sora nodded to her before disappearing into the changing room again. Meanwhile, I could see Yukinoshita Haruno approaching us with a male employee carrying a pile of clothes behind her. _Working her charms, huh…_ "So like, who's the ' _Maria_ ' you mentioned? A foreign friend of yours?" Yumiko then suddenly asked, and I turned back to face her.

"Ah, you could say that. She's a Finnish girl living in Taivalkoski, who we met and befriended while we were staying at Hideki's summer cottage there." I replied and glanced at Yukinoshita. "She's the blonde you saw back in Oulu with us when… Well, you know." I said and awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck. _I don't think either of us want to particularly remember our first meeting… I do wonder how Maria and her little brother are doing, though. It hasn't been that long since we last met, but plenty of things can happen even in a short amount of time._

"Oh, her? Yes, I do remember seeing her with you back then." Yukinoshita replied as she placed a hand on her chin, a thoughtful look on her face, while Hikigaya nodded in affirmation next to her.

"Hm? What's the newest gossip, then?" Yukinoshita Haruno walked up to us, then motioned to the third, unoccupied changing room with one hand and at the employee carrying her clothes with the other. " _If you could please bring them in there, so I can try them on? Just no peeking~!_ " She then continued in English, the employee nodding along to her as he took the clothes inside the changing room. _Poor guy… He seemed quite young, maybe around Tomoya-san's age? Well, whatever his age, Haruno-san has him wrapped around her little finger…_

"Nothing that you should concern yourself with, Nee-san. Also, you should stop abusing your looks to get others do your work for you." Yukinoshita said to her sister, then gestured at the employee who stepped back out of the changing room.

"So cold, Yukino-chan!" Haruno exclaimed in mock pain. "But, if I don't use my looks to get my way, what else are they good for, hm?" She then continued with a wink, thanked the employee and stepped inside the changing room. As soon as the curtain closed, Yukinoshita let out a sigh, and I had to restrain myself from sighing as well.

"Tch, why did she of all people have to appear here." Yumiko muttered to herself, then shook her head before turning to the three of us. "I'll go change as well. Once she gets out of there, we'll move on." Yukinoshita and I nodded to Yumiko, while Hikigaya sat in place, silently gazing at something. "Hikio?" Yumiko's voice caused him to jump a little, and he looked away as he responded.

"A-ah, right, yeah. Hopefully Minaduki-san will be back by then." Hikigaya replied in a hurried tone, keeping his gaze away from Yumiko, the reaction causing both her and I to raise eyebrows in question. _Are his… cheeks a little red?_

"Hikio..? Nevermind. I'll be right back." Without pressing the issue further, Yumiko entered the changing room, and I turned my gaze to Hikigaya, who was now looking down at the floor.

"I… don't think Yumi should buy that dress." Hikigaya said quietly after a few moments, and I could spot the employee Haruno had ' _charmed_ 'coming our way.

"Hikigaya-kun. If you did not like the dress, you should have told Miura-san so, instead of praising how good she looked. Seriously, could you be any more rude?" Yukinoshita said, and I couldn't tell if she was bantering or serious – likely a bit of both.

"No, that's not it..." Hikigaya began, but trailed off as the store employee stopped in front of us.

" _Excuse me? Do you need some help?_ " The employee asked us, his gaze meeting each of ours, before clearly stopping on Yukinoshita. _The beauty of these sisters would draw anyone in, so I don't blame him._

" _No, we do not. Sorry, we'll be leaving soon, once we're ready. And..._ " Yukinoshita hesitated slightly, her gaze briefly flicking to the changing room her sister was currently using. " _Nevermind_." Yukinoshita shook her head, and the employee looked at Hikigaya and I, who both shook out heads at him.

" _I don't need any help, but..._ " I pointed at the changing room Sora was inside of, and as if on cue, my sister emerged from within, carrying the clothes she had tried on. " _...My sister could probably use some to get the clothes back in their respective places_." Sora looked back at me quizzically as the employee approached her, her confusion only growing once the employee took the clothes off her hands and said something to her in English. "He'll help you return the clothes to where you got them, Sora." I said to my sister, who looked back at the employee briefly, before nodding to me. "So, what were you going to say, Hikigaya?" I turned back to look at the raven-haired young man, who seemed surprised at my question.

"Oh, um… Just that… Yumi, she… If you haven't noticed – and I won't be offended if you have – she has quite a nice pair of… _hips_." A slight blush appeared on Hikigaya's face, and I glanced back at the changing room Yumiko was occupying. _I hadn't really paid any close attention,_ _out of common courtesy._ I shook my head at Hikigaya, and heard Yukinoshita letting out a small sigh. "Well… I think the dress was a size too small or something, so it showed her… _legs_ quite nicely as she moved."

"So it was all due to your perversion, Hikigaya-kun? Why did I expect anything else from you..." Yukinoshita pinched the bridge of her nose as she sighed again in exasperation.

"N-no, it w-wasn't that! I just thought she shouldn't wear anything like that outside, lest _someone else_ gawks at her." Hikigaya defended himself, and I saw Yukinoshita twitch ever so slightly. _Ah, I have a bad feeling about this._

" _Is that so, Hikigaya-kun?_ " Yukinoshita's voice was as cold as a winter wind, and I found myself swallowing, even though the words were not directed at me. _From what I've gathered, these girls are very…_ territorial _, to put it nicely. They really don't like Hikigaya being with other girls, but more importantly… They are each other's greatest adversary. They compete for his affections, and yet he still loves both of them as much as the other._

"A-ah, calm down, Yuki. Your sister is…" As soon as Hikigaya mentioned her sister, Yukinoshita froze in place. As she looked down at the floor, her bangs covered her face, so I couldn't see the expression on her face, until she quickly looked back up, first meeting her boyfriend's gaze, then mine.

"S-sorry. I know I shouldn't get _jealous_ over Miura-san, but…" Yukinoshita bit her lip as she bowed to me. _Luckily Hikigaya seems to be able to control the girls. None of them are really keen on talking about the intricacies of their lives together, but I figured if things got heated between the girls, it wouldn't be pretty…_

"Haruka!" Before I could reply to the girl, a familiar voice calling out my name interrupted us, and we turned around to see Hideki making his way over to us, waving at us with his right hand as he carried a plastic bag in the other – likely containing his purchases from the pharmacy.

"Ah, you're back, Hideki." I said as Hideki walked up to us. "Did you get what you needed at the pharmacy?"

"That I did. Sorry again that I had to leave you guys so suddenly. While I was conversing with Sora on the way to the toilets, I remembered that I had ran out of vitamin D supplements back at home – and these supplements are quite important here in Finland, given the general lack of sunlight at these latitudes." Hideki explained, while Yukinoshita nodded along understandingly.

"Right, of course… Yes, since the human body creates vitamin D through a chemical reaction with ultraviolet radiation in the epidermis skin, supplements must be taken where sunlight is scarce, especially during the winter months." Yukinoshita seemed to be thinking out loud as she held a hand at her chin. _I… think I got what she meant._ _Yes, I remember learning that in either chemistry or biology._

"That is quite correct, Yukinoshita-chan! Good to see my evaluation of you as a 'smart girl' was not off the mark." Hideki smiled as he patted Yukinoshita on the shoulder, a gesture which seemed to cause the girl quite some discomfort, though Hikigaya merely smirked at her plight. "I also bought some cold medicine, given that winter is just around the corner. You can never be too prepared." As Hideki finished, Yumiko stepped outside the changing room, carrying the various pieces of clothing she had tested in two piles.

"Hikio! I need you to carry these for me while I go return-" Yumiko was cut off when she noticed Hideki. "Ah, Hideki-san!"

" _Kon'nichiwa_ , Miura-chan. I see you've gone all out with your shopping, huh? Are you going to buy all of that?" Hideki asked from the blonde, pointing at the clothes she was carrying.

"Not all of it, no. Speaking of which, Hikio, here." Yumiko handed half of the clothes she was carrying to a surprised Hikigaya. "You can hold those while I return the ones I'm not going to buy back to their racks, okay? Thanks a lot!" Not even giving Hikigaya any time to protest, Yumiko walked off, passing by Sora on the way, who was making her way back to us.

"...Well, at least she isn't going to buy the dress." Hikigaya mumbled with a slight smile as he adjusted the pile of clothes he was now forced to hold on to.

"The floral dress Miura-chan was holding?" Hideki asked, and Hikigaya nodded quickly, a little startled by Hideki's sudden question. "I thought that one might have looked good on her. It's a _Marimekko_ , from what I could tell of the style. Very famous Finnish brand of clothing with a distinct style." Hideki explained, then turned his gaze to Sora, who had just stopped in front of us. " _Kon'nichiwa_ , Sora-chan. You're not buying anything?"

"Oh, hi, Hideki. Not today, no. I was just testing out some clothes with Yumiko-san while we waited for you." Sora replied, her gaze landing down at the plastic bag Hideki was holding. "Did the pharmacy have what you were looking for?" She then asked, and Hideki nodded in return.

"Vitamin D supplements and cold medicine, I've got it all in here." Hideki replied and lifted up the plastic bag. "Come to think of it… Are you getting enough vitamin D, Sora-chan? Not to be rude or anything, of course, just that… I know you like to stay inside a lot." _That's… true, I guess. Sora has been going out a lot more than usual during this vacation, but she still stays inside with me a lot of the time…_

"Ah, well… I suppose that might be… the case… I-I have been improving, though." Sora replied as she shifted her gaze away form Hideki, a slightly guilty look on her face.

"I can see that, what with the friends you've made." Hideki said and glanced at Yukinoshita, then began to dig around in his plastic bag. "Tell you what, I'll give you a pack of the vitamin D supplements I bought." Hideki pulled out what seemed like a rather large box – for vitamin supplements, that is, though what do I know how they package medicine here in Finland – and walked over to Sora, handing it over to her.

"Really? I don't… think I should. I mean… we've already gotten so much from you, Hideki..." Sora tried to protest, but Hideki simply took her hand and placed the box onto it. _That box has an interesting colour scheme… Orange and pink, huh? I can understand the orange on a box of vitamin D supplements, but pink? Maybe it appeals to kids easier…_

"It's fine, Sora-chan. I bought two packs anyway, you should take this and keep it to yourself. It would only have _positive_ results, I'm sure of it." Sora's eyes widened a little, and she looked down at the package Hideki was offering her, then took it from him with both hands.

"Alright. _Arigatou_ , Hideki." Sora thanked Hideki with a slight smile as she placed the supplements into the pocket of her cardigan. Looking at the scene, I felt a smile of my own growing on my face as well. _I already knew Sora was slowly opening up to people other than me,_ _but just seeing concrete evidence of her improvement with things like that? It genuinely makes me happy._

Shortly afterwards, Yumiko returned to us, and the six of us began to wait for Haruno to be finished. Some of the other customers gave us a few weird looks, but Yumiko rifling through some of the clothing with Yukinoshita to pass the time kept us from having any of them – or the staff – complaining about our presence within the store. On more than one occasion, I caught Sora smiling to herself as she gazed off into the distance with her hand kept firmly in the pocket she had placed the vitamin D supplements into. Whether she was touching it unconsciously while thinking about something, or if the package had anything to do with whatever she was thinking of, I couldn't tell. I didn't call her out or ask about it, though, as Sora seemed to be in a happy mood, as I could even hear her humming a tune to herself. And while there was something familiar about the tune, I had never heard Sora humming it before. But I soon found out why it sounded so familiar, as Yumiko's curiosity lead to her asking my sister about the tune, and she replied with it being something our mother used to sing to us when we were little. _Now that I think about it… yeah, that must be it. A lot of my childhood memories are blurry, so I couldn't remember it…_ _I wonder how many happy memories with Sora from back then I've forgotten? Well, it's not like something like that really matters. I'll just make new memories with Sora to replace the old ones._

After Haruno had finished trying on all the clothes she had gathered (most of which she bought, pestering Hikigaya to carry her bags for her, but he adamantly refused), we left the clothing store behind and began to make our way through the rest of the shopping centre, with plans to go and sightsee some more around the city centre before finding a place to eat lunch. As we chatted away while walking through the spacious hallway, Sora suddenly tugged on my sleeve.

"What is it, Sora?" I asked from my sister as our group slowed down to a halt. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just… need to go to the toilet." Sora replied and pointed at the escalator just off to the side.

"Again?" I asked, and Sora flinched, the chatter among our group now having died down. _I mean, I won't stop her if she really needs to go again. I just find it a bit odd._

"I… I'm feeling a little… _odd_." Sora replied quietly, looking away from the rest of us. "I-I don't think it's anything serious, but…"

"If you're feeling ill, you should have said so, Sora-san." Yukinoshita interjected. "We'll wait for you here, but if you need to return to the hotel, that is fine too." She then continued with a smile, and Sora looked back at her with a slightly guilty look on her face.

"... _Arigatou_ , Yukino-san." Sora said to the older girl, then turned to me. "So… if you could escort me down, Haru..."

"Ah, of course." I said and took Sora's hand into mine. "We'll be right back, but sorry in advance if Sora needs to go lie down back at the hotel." I apologized to the rest of the group, but Yukinoshita simply shook her head in reply.

After a quick goodbye to our friends, Sora and I began to make our way to the toilets. I was used to Sora being a little weak physically, but I couldn't help but worry whenever she actually got sick. _Sora seems to be walking just fine, but if she says she's feeling ill…_

"Sora, are you… How are you feeling? Should we hurry?" I asked from my sister, getting a little anxious about the situation as we descended down the escalator.

"It's fine, Haru." Sora replied and looked at me with a smile. "I think I'll be fine if I take it easy and have some water." I was a little sceptical at Sora's words. _I know Sora is just trying to not make me worry, but… How can I not worry about the person I love?_

"I don't think you should be downplaying this, Sora. You have been sickly, and if _wasn't_ because of morning sickness..." The two of us stepped into the underground car park and I followed Sora as she walked over to the women's toilets, stopping in front of the door. "Will you be fine? I wouldn't want to leave you alone in there if you get more ill..."

"I can do this much myself, Haru. Besides, would you want to be seen going into the women's toilets with me?" I glanced around after hearing Sora's arguably logical question. _There are quite a few people around, and they might get the wrong idea…_ I let out a small sigh as I looked back towards my sister.

"Alright. But call out to me if something bad happens, okay? We'll go straight back to the hotel." Sora nodded to me in reply and then disappeared inside the toilet. After staring at the door for a few seconds, I let out another sigh and moved to the side, leaning against the wall next to the door. _I guess Sora is right, she_ can _take care of herself. But as her brother – and_ lover – _I can't not be worried for her._

Minutes passed as I stood nearly motionless, leaning against the wall. Some passerbys gave me odd looks – no doubt because I was waiting next to the women's toilet – but didn't say anything to me. And even if they had, I probably wouldn't have cared that much, for my anxiousness about Sora's situation was growing with each passing moment. _Sora isn't strong physically, so if she really is ill, it wouldn't lead to good things for her. Then again, she has a lot of willpower, and we've got all of our friends to help us, so she should be fine even if she did get ill._ The minutes felt like hours as I wallowed in my thoughts, alternating between negative and hopeful, until finally, the door to the toilet was opened and Sora emerged from within, the look on her face neutral.

"Sora! How are you feeling? Is everything okay?" I immediately asked, taking a hold of my sister's shoulders, startling her slightly.

"Relax, Haru. I'm feeling fine, now. Calming down and clearing my head a little did the trick." Sora said with a small smile as she moved my hands away from her shoulders. "Maybe I simply overexerted myself a little." I bit my lip, still hesitant about believing Sora, when she suddenly enveloped me in a hug. "You know, Haru, I really love the feeling I get when you worry about me. Knowing that you'll always be there for me, ready to catch me if I fall, it's a reassuring feeling." Sora separated a little from me, looking up at me with her grey eyes. "And I want you to feel the same way. I want to be the person to have your back, Haru. And for that, I need to start looking out for myself a little more. So, for that, you don't need to worry about me right now. I'm fine, really." What Sora stated was the obvious, as lovers are there to support each other, but her words also carried more meaning. I had been there to take care of Sora her entire life, and while I would continue to stay by her side and do that for the rest of our lives as well, Sora wanted to become more independent, so she could return the favour and support me in turn.

"Sora..." My sister simply smiled at me as she reached up and gave me a quick kiss on my lips, then freed me from her embrace, beginning to slowly make her way back inside the shopping centre.

"Now, let's hurry, Haru. We don't want to keep our friends waiting, and I'm starting to feel hungry." Sora stopped to turn and look at me, and I simply stared back at her for a few moments, before shaking my head to clear my thoughts and walking over to her.

"If you say so, Sora. Just… take it easy, okay? I don't want you getting ill again." I said as we passed through the automatic doors and stepped onto the escalator.

"If it ends the same way the last time I got ill, I wouldn't mind it." Sora replied with a smirk. "Although, you seem more than willing to _give_ it to me without the excuse of me being ill, Haru." I found myself smiling at Sora, and looked up to see Hikigaya waiting for us at the top of the escalator, lazily raising a hand in greeting as he acknowledged our presence. _Maybe I do worry about Sora a little too much sometimes._ I returned the gesture nad turned to look at my sister again.

 _We are fine as long as we have each other, after all._

* * *

 _Negative._

I stared at the package in my hands, reading out the instructions written on it in English over and over again, as well as replaying the conversations I'd had with Kyou in my head. _That's what the instructions say, and what Kyou-san told me about the tests she knew about._

 _One line means negative, two means positive._

I reached into my cardigan pocket and pulled out the long, plastic device within it, squinting as I looked at the small control strip located around the middle portion of the device. _The control line is visible, but the spot where the test line should be is… empty._ I let out a sigh as I went through the instructions again, still struggling to understand all the English in it. _I don't think I did the test wrong, so… It's valid. However…_ I lifted my gaze off the test in my hands and looked towards the hotel room's bathroom door. ... _Kyou-san did say that they might sometimes display false negatives, usually as a result of the test being done_ too early _, which means…_ I reached into the package and pulled out the second test within it, turning it around in my hands as I examined it. _If this first test resulted in a negative, I just need to do the test again in perhaps a week or so. It will also give me the chance to monitor my menstrual cycle…_ I heard shuffling from the other side of the bathroom door and quickly pocketed everything I was holding as little Ushio stepped outside, followed by her mother.

"Sorry, I took a little long, Sora." Kyou apologized as she closed the door behind her. "You ready to go yet? Tomoya, Haruka and Hideki-san should already be waiting downstairs." She then asked as she walked up to me, and I stood up from the bed I was sitting down on.

"Ah, yeah, I just need to quickly go back to our room." I replied, and Kyou nodded to me.

"Alright, Ushio and I will be waiting in the hallway, then." I nodded back to Kyou, before the three of us made our way out into the hallway, and I entered mine and Haru's room. _Haa… I would have had a lot of explaining to do if she had noticed the pregnancy test…_

It was currently a little over six in the evening. After spending the day together with Hikigaya, Yumiko, Yukino, her sister, and Hideki, Haru and I had returned to the hotel, and I was simply exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. Due to Yukinoshita Haruno's excitement about wanting to see as much of Rovaniemi as possible, our group had been dragged through various locales in and around the city centre, both places we had and hadn't visited yet. While I did share Yumiko's clear distaste for the elder Yukinoshita sibling being around, I can't say I didn't enjoy walking around town with the friends I had made here. However, the most important part of the day happened rather early on in it – the _test_. When Hideki returned from the pharmacy, I could barely contain my excitement. I wasn't sure how he was going to handle giving the pregnancy test I had asked him to buy to me, but I worried for naught, as Hideki's "vitamin D trick" worked out splendidly, and it was easy enough to do the test itself in the toilets of the shopping centre. But, it seems the good part ended there, as the test results were negative: I was not pregnant. But it was not over yet. _The result could very well be a false negative, and even if it wasn't, with the amount of sex Haru and I are having, it's only inevitable before it happens. But, I don't need to concern myself with that now. Kyou-san is waiting for me._ I hid the pregnancy test inside my travel bag, then stepped back out into the hallway again, where Kyou and Ushio were waiting for me, dressed in the fanciest clothes they had with them; a violet dress – nearly the same hue as her hair – covered with a white cardigan similar to mine for Kyou, and an orange child's dress for Ushio. _Dressed like that, they do really seem like parent and child…_

After we returned to the hotel, we had bumped into Kyou and Tomoya. Wanting to get to know the couple better, Hideki suggested that the five of us (plus Ushio, of course) could have dinner together at the hotel's restaurant – an offer which Kyou and Tomoya easily accepted. Haru and I didn't have any reason to refuse either, so we decided to go along with it, especially given that Hideki was willing to pay for our meals. Haru and I did feel a little bad to be relying on Hideki for so much, but he simply shrugged it off, saying that our happiness was enough of a repayment.

"Shall we go, Sora?" Kyou's voice pulled me back to reality, and I realized I was still standing by the door to mine and Haru's room.

"Ah, of course." I replied, briefly turning around to make sure the door was locked behind me, before walking over to Kyou as we began to make our way over to the lift. "Oh, and thank you again for… _helping_ me with this. As I said, I've never… eaten at a place like this before." I said as I brought a hand up to inspect my hair. Before she had gotten ready herself, Kyou had braided my hair into a single, long braid, distinctly different from the usual, _simple_ twintails I went with.

"It's no big deal, Sora. I've been doing mine and my sister's hair ever since we were kids. Besides, I think we're going a little 'too' fancy for a hotel restaurant, but at least we've got dates to impress." Kyou said with a giggle as we stopped in front of the lift, with Ushio pressing the button to call it up. "Or, I guess in your case, you've got your brother to impress."

"Yeah, I guess so..." I replied with a slight awkward laugh. _One day we'll tell her the truth, but today is not that day._ "I don't think I need to even _try_ when it comes to Haru, though." I continued as the lift arrived at our floor and the three of us stepped inside, with Ushio once again pressing the button for the lift.

"Heh, with the way Haruka worries about you, I think you're right." Kyou said with a smile, turning to look at me. "You know, it really warms my heart to see you two being so close. I always fancied myself super close with Ryou, but I guess there are twins whose bond is even deeper than ours. Then again..." The smile disappeared from Kyou's face. "What if one day you find someone else who… becomes as important to you as your brother? Or if the same happens to him?" I averted my gaze from Kyou. _I know what she's referring to… If she knew about Haru and I, she wouldn't even ask that question, but…_

"I… I know that… might be a possibility, and Haru knows it as well. Still… we've promised to be together, and there's nothing that exists that could separate us. Any _partners_ we might get in the future will just have to live with the fact that we are… so close as siblings." I replied to Kyou, and the lift came to a halt. "Besides, if Haru and I are happy just being together, would there even be a _need_ for a… _lover_?" I turned back to face Kyou as we stepped out of the lift.

"That… Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry. I know there are plenty of people who are happy with just being single." Kyou replied and a slight smile appeared on her face again. "If you're both happy just being together as siblings, there's nothing wrong with that." As we made our way towards the restaurant, I could see a few of the other hotel residents stopping to gaze at us, and I didn't blame them – Kyou looked _very_ pretty in her current clothes. "And then there's the fact that you're planning on raising a child together as well… Sorry, it was an insensitive question, especially given that I know what you two have gone through..." Kyou trailed off, and I shook my head at her.

"Don't be sorry, I understand why you asked." I said with a smile and took Kyou's hand into my own, and she returned the smile with her own. _I really hope that when we eventually tell Kyou-san and Tomoya-san about the true nature of our relationship, they'll be able to accept it._ _I know it's a tall order, but… I want to do everything within my power to_ _make it happen. I don't want the relationship I've built with Kyou-san to crumble. But… I don't have to worry about that right now._ In the distance, I could spot three familiar figures talking amongst each other, and it didn't take long for them to notice our presence.

"Ah! There you are, we were wondering what was keeping you three." Hideki said and waved at us as we approached. Unlike him, however, Haru and Tomoya simply stood frozen in place as they stared at Kyou and I wide-eyed.

"Sorry if we made you wait, Hideki-san. Ushio was a little nervous about this, and I took longer than I would have liked with my dress." Kyou replied, patting the now slightly blushing Ushio on the head as we came to a stop in front of our male companions. "Hm? Tomoya? What's wrong?" Hearing his wife saying his name seemed to snap Tomoya out of his stunned state as he blinked twice, then shook his head before looking at Kyou.

"Huh? N-no, nothing's wrong, Kyou. Just that..." Tomoya said, glancing at Haru next to him briefly, who was still staring at me. _Hm? Why is Haru looking at me like that? It's not like I've changed my clothes as drastically as Kyou, I'm practically still wearing the same outfit as earlier in the day… Is it the hair?_ "...Your dress. You don't usually wear something so… _pretty_ and _girly_." I saw Kyou's eye twitch a little at Tomoya's comment.

"Tomoya… What exactly do you mean by that..?" Kyou's voice was laden with animosity as she cracked her knuckles while glaring at her husband, who flinched back away from her.

"A-ah, I-I mean… I-it looks good on you, Kyou. I was just… taken aback by how beautiful you were." Kyou stopped in her tracks as she was about to take a step forwards, a light blush now spreading across her face. _Heh,_ _Kyou-san is surprisingly weak to compliments. Speaking of compliments…_

"See something you like, Haru?" I asked from my brother, who, after realizing he had been quite obviously staring at me the whole time, averted his gaze and scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"Oh, um… Your hair, Sora. The braid… looks good on you, I didn't expect it." Haru said while stealing glances at me.

"I'm glad to hear that, Haru. Kyou-san did it for me, but if you like it so much… I might just have to learn how to do it myself." I took the braid into my hands and caressed it a little. _It did look like a pain to do, though… Well, I'm sure Kyou-san would teach me._

"Right, since we're all here now, why don't we go ahead and start our dinner?" Hideki said and clapped his hands together to bring everyone's attention to himself.

"That's what we're her for, and I for one am quite hungry." Tomoya said, having calmed Kyou down with his surprise compliment. "Kyou, shall we?" Tomoya turned to his wife again and extended out his right hand, Kyou looking down at it for a few moments before smiling and placing her own hand onto Tomoya's palm.

"As long as you don't forget your daughter, Tomoya." Kyou replied, and the pair looked down at Ushio, whose curious gaze was shifting between her parents.

"How could I, Kyou? Come on, Ushio, hold onto daddy's hand and we'll go eat." Ushio looked hesitant as she gazed at Tomoya's outstretched hand, then turned to face Kyou.

"I want to hold both mama's and papa's hands." Ushio said, her parents glancing at each other and smiling, before Tomoya let go of Kyou's hand.

"Of course, Ushio. Come on, then." Kyou took a hold of Ushio's left hand, while Tomoya took her right, and with Hideki's lead, the three of them walked over to the entrance to the restaurant. _I want to do something like that with Haru one day, with_ our child _._ I smiled as I watched the young family, then noticed Haru's outstretched hand in front of me.

"Sora, shall we?" Haru said to me with a smile, mimicking Tomoya's earlier gesture, and I felt my smile growing as I placed my hand on Haru's palm.

"Of course, Haru." I replied as Haru took a hold of my hand, intertwining our fingers. _Ah, This feels so nice…_ I resisted the urge to lean over and kiss Haru – as there were other people around – instead opting to stick as close to him as possible as we followed after Kyou, Tomoya, and little Ushio between them. Watching them, I moved my other hand down to my stomach and closed my eyes as I let Haru lead me. _That's right… I wish Haru and I could become a true family like that one day. Though I get the feeling…_

 _...That day might be closer than I think._

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 **AN: And this chapter is done! I really apologize for the delay for this again, I meant to have this chapter done and out ages ago, but things did not go as planned and I ended up working on the Epilogue chapter for one of my other stories for far too long, delaying this chapter as well. The next chapter, however, I can promise will not take as long as this one did. I will start to work on it ASAP.**

 **Until then, cheerio!**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Hello and welcome back to this story, dear readers! I've finished all my other writing projects, and while I am working on a second story while writing this one, updates will become a lot faster than they have been. I'm finding it quite easy to write the second story I'm working on, which means that updating it (when I release it) will be quick – which in turn makes updates for _New Life of the Kasugano Twins_ faster as well. I won't reveal what my new story is about quite yet, but it is one I've wanted to write for quite some time.**

 **Now, let's get this chapter started – with a small lemony surprise!**

* * *

 **Chapter 17 – An Unlikely Friend**

"Ahn! Haru! Yes… Right there..!" My sister cried out as my fingers worked their magic between her legs, struggling to keep her moans contained.

"Heh, I'll take you're liking this, Sora? Good to know returning the favour for all the times you've serviced me is paying off." I said as I leaned towards Sora's chest and began to suck and lick on her erect nipples.

"N-not my… chest as well… Haru… I-I'm going to..!" Just before her orgasm hit her, Sora managed to cover her mouth with both of her hands, muffling her scream of pleasure. After her orgasm subsided, Sora collapsed onto the bed, panting hard but smiling from the afterglow. "Haah… That was… something else, Haru." I smiled back at my sister and leaned down to kiss her briefly on the lips.

"It's only fair that I give back to you after everything _you've_ doneto _me_ , Sora." I replied with bit of a wry smile, moving my hand to stroke Sora's hair. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, means that there are now more ways I can bring you pleasure that I know of."

"Mmmm… You know there's something else that brings me _more_ pleasure, though..." Sora reached out with her hand and began trailing a finger down my abdomen. Just before her hand reached its target, however, we were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door to our hotel room. _Who could it be? We don't have anything planned with Harri until tomorrow…_

"Sorry, Sora. I'd better go check who it is." My sister frowned at me, but then let out a sigh as she pulled her hand back, closing her eyes as she laid on the bed.

"Fine. Just get back to me as soon as you can, Haru. I'll be waiting~!" I stood up from our bed and quickly went into the bathroom to clean off Sora's _juices_ off my hands, then made my way over to the door. I was expecting to see Hideki, or perhaps Kyou, but upon opening the door, both of those guesses were proven wrong as I found myself gazing at a pair of rose-coloured eyes.

"Haruno-san? What brings you here?" I voiced my surprise to the older woman and glanced back at Sora briefly, who had now tucked herself under the blanket. _Good thinking, Sora._

"Nothing much, Haru." Haruno replied with her trademark smile plastered across her face, unmoving like it was carved out of stone. "Is your sister not here?" She then asked and leaned to the side to peek past me.

"Sora is… still in bed. As in, she hasn't gotten up yet, though she is awake already. But, is there something you need from us?" I heard Sora shuffling on the bed, and I glanced behind me to see her head poking out from under the blanket at the opposite end of the bed as she gazed at Haruno and I at the door. _It's a good thing we didn't get to go any further… I've said it to Sora already, but we have to be careful if we're going to have sex during the day._

"Hmmm… Not so much _need_ , but..." Haruno looked upwards thoughtfully for a moment or two, bringing a hand to her chin in imitation of her younger sister. "I was just thinking that maybe we could spend some time together. Yukino-chan said that she, Hikigaya-kun and Miura-san apparently have something to do today and rushed me away when I asked if we could do something together. Isn't that mean?" She then continued, and I offered her an apologetic smile in return.

"Well… Sora and I… we were planning on taking things easy today. Sora has been a little sickly occasionally recently, so a day of resting would be welcome, I feel." I explained as I rubbed the back of my neck. _It's not a complete lie, as we didn't have anything planned for today. And Sora did say that she felt a little nauseous this morning, and we're still unsure of it's due to a possible pregnancy, or simply as a result of her weak physique…_

"Oh, that's okay. I did also want to talk to you two about something." Suddenly, the smile on Haruno's face disappeared, and the tone of her voice became more serious as her rose-coloured eyes gazed deep into mine. "We could have a cup of tea down at lobby bar, if that's okay?" Briefly, I was reminded of last Tuesday when Sora and I had chatted with Yumiko at the lobby bar. _I hope the topic of the conversation won't be the same… No, there's no way Haruno-san would know. We've been careful around her._

"I'd have to ask Sora..." I turned my gaze back towards my sister, who was still looking at us.

"What do you need to talk about?" Sora asked as she lifted herself up slightly, and I could see that she had put on her shirt to conceal herself. "If it's brief, we can go over it right now."

"But wouldn't you much rather talk over a nice cup of warm drink? I know I certainly would. I won't take much of your time, but I will say that I feel it to be quite important to talk about it with you two as soon as possible. Wouldn't it be the best to do it right now, when we have the time to do so?" The smile returned to Haruno's face as she replied to Sora, then shifted her gaze back to me. _Well… If it really is important, like she says…_ I scratched my cheek as I thought of what to answer, then heard Sora sighing behind me.

"Fine, we'll hear you out. Just let me make myself presentable first." I heard Sora say, followed by more shuffling on the bed.

"Splendid. I will see you two soon, then." Haruno said, the smile on her face now seemingly a satisfied one. "I'll be waiting downstairs. And if you ditch me now, I'll be very sad, you know~" Haruno leaned uncomfortably close to me and winked, before turning around and beginning to walk down the hallway, briefly glancing back to me before she made her way to the lift. _I… guess that's that, then._ I found myself letting out a sigh as I closed the door and walked back to Sora, who was still laying on the bed with a slightly exasperated look on her face.

"I didn't expect you to agree to that so easily, Sora." I said as I sat down on the bed next to my sister, now noticing that the _smell_ indicating our previous activities still lingered in the air. _With all that perfume, I don't think Haruno-san would have been able to smell it… Thankfully._

"Well, I figured the sooner we get this over with, the less we have to deal with her." Sora replied and rolled onto her side, lazily reaching down onto the floor where her panties were located. "What do you think she wants to talk to us about, Haru? Could she have… found out?" I picked up Sora's panties and handed them to her, my gaze fixated on the door.

"I don't think so, no. Haruno-san… she definitely knows _something_ is amiss, that there's something we aren't telling her, but… Apart from that, she shouldn't know." I turned to look at my sister as she sat up next to me, now having put her panties on as well as she lazily kicked her feet on the edge of the bed. "I'd wager she's going to try to probe some information out of us, though I am a little curious as to what she has to tell us, if she really thinks there's something important we need to talk about with her."

"So I guess we just have to hide this from her for just a little longer, huh?" Sora said and let out a small sigh as her feet came to a halt, and I felt a little guilty looking at Sora. _We promised that we wouldn't let the views of others affect us, and yet we still live with deception…_

"I'm… sorry, Sora." I said and reached out with a hand, placing it on her shoulder as she looked back at me with confusion. "I know we came on this trip so we wouldn't have to hide our relationship, but..." I was silenced as Sora in turn reached out with her hand and placed a finger on my mouth.

"Don't apologize, Haru." My sister said to me with a smile. "I may be stubborn, but I'm not stupid. I know we have to keep it a secret from the others, but I take refuge in the thought that one day they'll be able to accept us. So, you don't be sorry for that, Haru. I don't like that we have to be secretive, but I understand that right now we have no choice. Neither of us expected to be in a situation like this, where we would have to interact with other people this much, right?"

"I… guess you do have a point..." Sora leaned closer to me and kissed me briefly, before standing up from the bed. _Up until that storm, we expected to just stay at Hideki's summer cottage, maybe sightsee around a few cities together with him, but definitely not this… I can't say it's been a bad time, though, with all the friends we've made here._

"Well, everything would be easier if everyone else just realized there's nothing wrong with our love. Anyway, we better not keep Yukinoshita Haruno-san waiting. Better get this meeting with her over with." Sora stretched as she stood up, looking back at me with a smirk. "Once the matter with her has been dealt with, we'll continue from where we left off." I smiled back at my sister as I stood up as well, pulling her into a short kiss as I did.

"Of course, Sora."

The two of us quickly cleaned ourselves up (or rather, Sora did, for obvious reasons) and changed our clothes in preparation for meeting up with Yukinoshita Haruno. Not wanting to make her wait, and due to my curiosity about the reasoning for her request to talk with us, we hurriedly began to make our way down to the hotel lobby.

"I don't like this, Haru. What if she's somehow found out?" Sora said as we walked down the hallway, and I turned to look at her.

"I highly doubt it, but we can't rule out the possibility. We just need to keep our cool and be careful around her. I'm sure it will go fine, Sora." I replied to my sister with a smile.

"Good thing I have you to be optimistic, Haru." Sora replied with a slight giggle, before I saw her eyes suddenly widening as she reached out to me. "Haru! Watch out!" Before I could register what Sora meant, I felt myself colliding with something. _What the-_

"Agh!" A voice that wasn't my own grunted, and after taking a step back to recover from the sudden collision, I was able to see the owner of the voice – the person I had just bumped into.

"Mikami-san?" The black-haired man shook his head as he looked around, his gaze landing on mine. "Ah, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." I apologized, now seeing that we were in front of the door to his room, where Mikami had just appeared out from.

"Hmph. You are forgiven, though I would advice for you to keep a closer eye on your surroundings in the future." Mikami replied as he dusted himself off, then froze in place suddenly.

"You dropped this, Mikami-san." Hearing Sora's words, Mikami's head snapped to look at my sister, who was holding a familiar-looking black notebook in her hands. _Oh, it's the notebook he_ _always carried with him whenever we went sightseeing for Harri…_

"Ah, thank you." Mikami said and took the notebook from Sora – with noticeable swiftness. _He really doesn't like others handling that notebook._

"Do you always carry that with you, or is there some special reason you're going out with it today?" I asked from Mikami as he closed and locked his door. "Sorry, I'm just curious."

"Er, well… _Inspiration_." Mikami replied and turned away from us. _'Inspiration'? What does that mean?_ "If you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave now." He then said, sparing one last glance at us before beginning to make his way towards the stairs.

"Well that was… an odd response." Sora said once Mikami was out of hearing distance.

"You took the words out of my mouth, Sora." I replied, then took my sister by the hand. "Come on, Haruno-san is going to wonder what's taking us." Sora nodded to me, and we made our way to the lift.

As we arrived down at the first floor, there was no sign of Mikami anywhere, telling us that wherever he was going, he must have been in a hurry. _I do still wonder what he meant with "inspiration" when I asked him about his notebook… That, and why he is so protective of it. Well, whatever the case may be, I shouldn't pester him about it._ Making our way to the lobby bar, it was easy to spot Yukinoshita Haruno from among the few people there. While her younger sister exuded an aura of elegance and grace that – along with her looks – easily set her apart from other people, Haruno felt… _different_. The elegance was still somewhat there, but where as Yukinoshita Yukino wore I like it was natural of her, Haruno's elegance came from her overwhelming confidence, like she _knew_ that she was better than everyone else, and was proud of it. Though, whether that could be called elegance resulting from a high upbringing or simply being haughty would be a matter of debate.

"Ah, there you are! Haru! Sora-chan!" Haruno called out and waved at once she noticed us approaching, her ever-present smile widening as we got closer. "I was just wondering what was taking you two so long."

"Sorry, we ran into Mikami-san on the way down – quite literally." I replied as we stopped at Haruno's table, and she gestured for us to sit down.

"Mikami-san? Ah, yes, the grumpy lawyer, of course. I saw him just a moment ago, making his way outside while writing something in a notebook." Haruno said as we sat down, taking a small sip from her drink as she did. "He's certainly an interesting one, if I do say so myself… Anyway, do you want to get some drinks?" She then continued and pointed towards the counter with her thumb.

"I… think we're fine." I replied and glanced at Sora, who nodded along with me, but Haruno simply waved at us dismissively while placing her cup down again.

"Nonsense! If we're going to be talking, you two will need something to moisten your lips with." Haruno stood up and motioned for us to do the same. "Come on, I'll pay – it's my treat." I looked towards Sora, who let out an almost inaudible sigh, before reluctantly getting up from her seat, and I followed suit. _I guess she won't take no for an answer…_

The three of us made our way to the counter to buy some drinks, and Haruno took the chance to get herself a sandwich as well, as she had apparently gotten peckish while waiting for us. I bought a cup of tea, while Sora went with a glass of mixed fruit juice, and just like she had promised, Haruno paid for our drinks.

"So, what did you want to talk to us about, Haruno-san?" I asked once we had returned to our table, setting my cup down on it to let it cool down.

"Straight to the point, eh? Reminds me of a certain other young man I know..." Haruno said and took a bite out of her sandwich. _Quite clear who she's talking about… Unless Haruno-san knows someone else as straightforward as Hikigaya._ "Huh, this is better than I expected. Go figure." Haruno took a sip of her drink, then cleared her throat as she suddenly looked at Sora and I with a more _serious_ expression. "I'll get straight to the point as well, then. As you've probably figured out by now, I am quite interested in you two – and I rarely find anyone interesting enough to be worthy of my time and attention. However… There's something about you two. Something about you, _Haru_ , that I can't shake off. Something nagging at the back of my mind, telling me to be _interested_ in you, despite that everything you've told me being so _boring_." _Well… She definitely was straightforward with that…_ "Something like… _a secret_." I resisted the urge to look at Sora, keeping my gaze fixated on Haruno. _There it is._

"I… couldn't say I know what you are talking about, Haruno-san. Everything I've told you is the truth." _Just not the_ full _truth – the same story we've told Kyou-san and Tomoya-san._ "And even if I _was_ keeping something from you… Doesn't everyone have their secrets? Any that I would have are my _personal_ things." I spared a glance at my sister, who didn't meet my gaze with her own, instead opting to shift her gaze from Haruno to her drink.

"Hmm… I guess you are right with that." Haruno replied and began playing with the spoon in her cup. "You know… I can tell you two are being _guarded_ around me. I don't know what Yukino-chan and Hikigaya-kun have told you about me, but… You shouldn't trust them on everything they may say about me. Those two owe a lot to me, and sometimes I don't think they quite appreciate it enough." The smile returned to Haruno's face as she glanced at me, then at Sora, before returning her gaze down to her spoon. "There is a lot more to me than meets the eye, as I'm sure you know, but there is even more to me than what someone as perceptive as Hikigaya-kun could see." Haruno stopped moving her spoon, lifting her gaze to meet mine again. "...And I'm sure there is a lot more to _you_ than meets the eye as well."

"Is that what you wanted to know? If there was something ' _more_ ' to us?" Sora asked, not even trying to hide the slight annoyance in her voice. "Because in that case, I think you'll be disappointed. You already know everything, we have nothing to hide."

"Is that so? Because I don't believe that is the case. I _know_ there is something _more_ you haven't told me, Sora-chan, and I aim to find out _what_ that is." Haruno's tone of voice was now sinister, and I had to calm myself to prevent myself from swallowing – it would have only given Haruno more fuel. _Unless Sora or I let something slip, she won't get her answers from direct questioning. Haruno-san must know that as well._ "Haru? I know I've asked before if you had a girlfriend _currently_ , but have you _ever_ had a girlfriend?" Haruno's question caught me a little off-guard. _If I deny her an answer now, she'll only get more suspicious that something is amiss._

"I have, yes. I broke up with her before Sora and I came on this trip, however – on relatively peaceful terms." I replied. _Technically I'm not lying. Nao and I did part peacefully, though the reason for our breakup was… Well,_ unique _, I guess you could say. It didn't seem like she was particularly angry when we last talked, at the very least._

"Relationship drama, a broken family mended together… Quite interesting indeed..." Haruno muttered quietly, then downed the rest of her drink in one go, standing up after finishing. "Well, I think I got at least a little closer to what I seek. I'll be looking forwards to the next time we meet, Haru, Sora-chan. Perhaps then I'll finally find what it is that makes you so interesting." Haruno's eerie smile widened ever so slightly as she gazed at us, then turned around and began to walk away, quickly stopping by a trash can to throw the remains of her sandwich into it – despite the fact that she had called it good not too long ago.

"...I don't like her one bit, Haru." Sora said with a sigh once Haruno had gone out of sight, gazing into her juice with a look of slight disgust.

"Neither do I, Sora." I replied and took a sip of my tea. "She's shown us her true colours, so it would seem that contrary to what _she_ said to us, the things Hikigaya has told us about her are in fact true…" _I do wonder what she plans on doing, though?_ _Whatever it is, it's only going to result in trouble for us, I figure._

"Will… Will we be alright?" I looked towards Sora, her grey eyes full of concern. "I mean… she seemed to be quite serious about that. What if she… _finds out_?" Sora bit her lip as she awaited my answer, while I smiled back at her and patted her head.

"We'll be fine, Sora. Haruno-san is quite convinced that she knows we have something to hide, and she already knows we are being guarded around her. She won't get any information out of Hikigaya, Yumiko-san, or Yukinoshita-san, so if just keep doing what we've done so far, we should be fine." Sora smiled back at me and leaned into my hand, almost like she was a cat enjoying the attention I was giving her.

"Everything you say sounds so reassuring, Haru." Sora said with another sigh, though this time one of contentment. _I only wish the things I said_ _could become true. Pure confidence alone won't do that._ Out of the corner of my eye, I could spot a familiar figure coming closer, and I turned around to face them.

"Mikami-san? Fancy seeing you here." I greeted the black-haired man as he stopped a little ways away from us with a look of slight surprise on his face.

"I could say the same. I did expect to see you two back here." Mikami replied, then raised an eyebrow with intrigue as his gaze shifted to my hand, which was still stroking Sora's hair

"We were talking with Yukinoshita Haruno-san, at her request." Sora replied as I lowered my hand away from her head. "What a waste of time, though at least she paid for our drinks." Sora lifted her glass up to her lips and began to drink from it as Mikami walked up to us, and I could see that he still had his notebook with him.

"I see. That woman likes to meddle in the lives of others, doesn't she? I thought she would have kept her pestering to her younger sister and her boyfriend, but she even pestered me yesterday." Mikami huffed as he crossed his arms and glanced around briefly. "Do you… mind if I sit here? Or are you leaving?" Given Mikami's usual demeanour, the question surprised me, but I replied to the black-haired man with a smile.

"No, we don't mind. It's not like we have anything else to do, and with Haruno-san leaving us, company could be appreciated." I saw Sora scowling a little at my choice of words, but she didn't voice her displeasure. _I'll make it up to you, even more than I did this morning._

"Alright. I'll go get myself a cup of coffee, then." Mikami replied to us with a nod, then made his way over to the counter.

"It seems nobody likes having Yukinoshita Haruno around… Well, Hideki doesn't seem to mind her, but Hideki is Hideki. Tomoya-san and Kyou-san seem to be the only people she hasn't _annoyed_ , probably because she doesn't care for them." Sora said while watching Mikami at the counter as he ordered his coffee – quite quickly effortlessly as well, it seemed. _Could he be a regular at the lobby bar? I think I have seen him here a few times…_ "I wonder how she makes do back home without pissing off everyone in her general vicinity?" I let out a small chuckle at Sora's words.

"I think you only find her annoying because of your personality, Sora. You, Hikigaya, Yukinoshita-san and Mikami-san are all… well, _introverts_ , so her being the outgoing type doesn't match well. Of course, there is also the fact that we know of her _facade_ , and what she really is like." I replied to Sora as Mikami approached us again, now with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand. "To be honest… If she didn't show her true persona to us, and if Hikigaya hadn't told us about it… I wouldn't find her company that bad."

"I presume you are talking about Yukinoshita Haruno?" Mikami asked as he sat down in the seat that had been occupied by Haruno not too long ago, placing both his coffee cup and his notebook onto the table.

"Yes, we are. She..." I paused for a moment to think through my next words. _Mikami-san is c_ _learly displeased with Haruno-san's presence, and likely with her_ _curiosity as well, but should he be made aware_ _of her facade? I'd like to think he'_ _d be_ _able to discern it for himself…_ "...She seems to be convinced that we are _hiding_ something from her, and is determined to find out whatever that is." I ultimately decided against straight up telling Mikami about Haruno. _He'll figure it out on his own if he cares enough to do so._

"So, _are_ you hiding something from her, then?" Mikami asked with a raised eyebrow and took a sip from his coffee. _There's the question._

"Not in particular, no. I mean, everyone has things they would rather not tell anyone else about, right?" Mikami narrowed his eyes at my answer, his gaze briefly flicking to his notebook before giving me a small nod in reply. "But it's not like were specifically hiding something from her, so I don't really understand what her beef with us is." I glanced at Sora, who nodded along with me, and hoped that Mikami would buy our explanation. _I don't really enjoy directly lying like this, but_ _we can't really tell Mikami-san about our relationship._

"Hmmm… I see." Mikami said and closed his eyes for a moment as he put down his coffee cup. "You are certainly correct that we all have things we would rather keep in the dark. However, I do find myself doubting that Yukinoshita's Haruno's apparent interest in finding out your supposed 'secret' would be _misplaced_. She does seem to be a smart girl, after all." Sora was about to drink from her glass again, but stopped midway through upon hearing Mikami's words, and I couldn't help freezing up a little myself. Mikami did not seem to notice this, however, as he picked up his coffee cup and took a swig out of it, placing his other hand on top of his notebook afterwards. "But, as I very much value my own privacy, I won't pry into the privacy of others. Even if you two had any secrets, I would not bother trying to find out." I internally let out a sigh of relief, and guessed Sora did the same.

"Thank you, Mikami-san. I believe I've said it before, but… You are a nicer guy than you let on." I said to Mikami with a smile. "It's… Well, it's good to be surrounded by reliable and helpful adults for a change." Mikami stared into my eyes for a few moments after hearing my words, before dropping his gaze down to his coffee, his red eyes narrowing a little as he gripped onto his cup a little harder.

"Yes… Speaking of that... You… You've been alone with just the two of you, right? Sorry if I'm being insensitive, but… I've heard that… your parents..." Mikami asked, not meeting my gaze again. I glanced at Sora, who simply smiled back at me.

"It's fine, Mikami-san." Sora replied, and Mikami met my sister's gaze with his own. "What you've heard is correct. Our parents… Are not here any more."

"My… condolences. I've never been particularly close with my own parents, but as a lawyer, I've met plenty of cases where my clients have been dealing with… _loss_ , so I do understand you two somewhat. What about any other family you two have?"

"They… We don't really want to associate with them." I replied and saw Sora clenching her fist in the corner of my eye. "Our aunt and uncle offered to take us in, but… They would have separated us. Taking care of the two of us together would have been too much of a hassle, apparently. One of the reasons we came on this trip was to get away from them, if at least for a little while." I explained to Mikami, who furrowed his brows as he took another sip of his coffee.

"I can understand your frustration with that, given how close you two are as siblings. Legally speaking, your aunt and uncle would become your guardians, being your closest relatives, but by the sounds of things, nothing has been made official yet?" I nodded in reply to Mikami's question.

"With their help, we sold our parents' house and moved into the house where our late grandparents lived. Our relatives left us alone for a period of time, but… a few weeks ago, just before we left on this trip, they contacted us about the whole thing – and they made it seem like their decision was final." Sora gripped onto her glass harder, and I reached out under the table to place a hand on her thigh. _Sora clearly doesn't like recounting these events…_ "What happens when we return back home, though… We honestly don't know what we'll do if our aunt and uncle simply force their decision onto us again."

"Hmm… If you could get someone to willingly become your legal guardian in place of your late parents and remaining relatives, that would solve your problem. Or then you could continue to fight and struggle against your relatives until you both reach adulthood, but if your relatives grow tired of it… They'll take you into legal custody – _forcefully_." I winced slightly at Mikami's words. _Knowing aunt and uncle, they might do so immediately when we get back… If they're not willing to take care of the two of us together, they likely won't listen to any backtalk._

"Could we… ask Tomoya-san and Kyou-san for that? To become our legal guardians?" Sora asked, glancing between Mikami and myself. _That… might actually be a good idea._ _They might even be up for the idea._

"That is something you will have to ask them yourself. However, from a legal perspective… It could be possible. It _would_ still require the consent of your _current_ legal guardian, which – while you two technically do not have one yet, given that things with your aunt and uncle have not been made official – would in this case still be your closest relatives. You would have to convince them to accept giving the Okazakis legal custody over you." As Mikami finished, I looked down at my teacup, letting everything Mikami had told us sink in as I gazed at the liquid within it. _I'm fairly sure Tomoya-san and Kyou-san would help us if we asked them, so that won't be a problem. Convincing aunt and uncle, however… it might actually not be that difficult. They clearly don't care for Sora and I, and would probably be happy to be able to get rid of us._ I saw my reflection in the tea smiling back at me. _And it could also be a chance_ _for us to come clean to them about our relationship._ I lifted my gaze from my tea and looked towards Sora, who was looking back at me with a slightly puzzled expression on her face. _Things might_ _finally start looking up for us._

"Thank you, Mikami-san. This has been… invaluable information." I thanked the black-haired lawyer with a slight bow. "If we ever need a lawyer, we'll be sure to repay you by hiring you."

"Er, well… You're welcome? I don't really think I did anything worthy of thanks, though." Mikami replied, his confusion evident in his voice. "If I was able to help you, though, then that means my years of studying law were not for nothing." He then continued with a slight smile.

The three of us continued to make small talk for some time as we finished our respective drinks, with the topics ranging anywhere from the other people "working" for Harri, to our experiences in Finland, and even things back home in Japan. We ended up telling Mikami about Okukozome and life there, and he in turn told us a little about himself. Mikami lived in Yokohama, though he had lived his youth in Shizuoka and studied in Tokyo, having been a transfer student in the United States for a year back when he was our age. While he primarily worked around Kanagawa and Tokyo, sometimes his work took him to prefectures farther away, having been to Toyama, Niigata and Yamagate on multiple occasions, with a few cases taking him as far as Akita, telling of his renown as a lawyer – though he himself was rather humble about his exploits, saying how he was " _Simply doing his best in punishing criminals_ ". Apart from his job, Mikami also wrote as a hobby, though he didn't go into detail about _what_ he wrote about.

Quite soon, we found ourselves making our way back upstairs to our respective rooms, continuing our surprisingly pleasant conversation even in the lift. As we stepped out of the lift on the third floor, however, Sora suddenly tottered and had to lean against the wall for support.

"Sora?! Are you okay?" I asked from my sister as she held her stomach, now beginning to feel a little panicked. _Maybe we should have taken today easy after all._

"I'm… fine, Haru. Just… feeling a little nauseous." Sora replied to me while trying her best to smile. "Although… I might need to… throw up." She then admitted, her smile turning guilty as she lifted her hand from her stomach to her mouth.

"Well, we can't have you doing that out in the hallway. Come, my room is closest." Mikami said and began to briskly walk towards his room, and Sora and I followed, with my sister leaning onto me for support. "I would kindly ask that you try to _keep it in_ until you get to the bathroom. I wouldn't like the carpet getting dirty, I'm sure you understand." Sora nodded to Mikami as he unlocked and opened the door to his room, stepping aside so we could enter.

Had we entered Mikami's room under any other circumstances, I would have likely been looking around with intrigue, but with Sora's situation, we simply hurried to the hotel room's bathroom as quickly as we could. As we entered, though, I couldn't help but notice the abundance of paper on Mikami's desk, and how his desk lamp was bent over them in a way I didn't know was possible. While it did peak my curiosity, I had no time to entertain it as Sora couldn't hold on for a second longer – just in time for us to get into the bathroom.

"Is she… alright?" Mikami asked as he peeked into the bathroom, though he was careful to not look directly at Sora – and I didn't blame him for that.

"Well… we got here in time, so that's something at least." I replied and rubbed the back of my neck, briefly glancing at my sister, currently kneeling before the toilet bowl. Despite my best efforts, I found myself holding back a gag and was forced to turn away.

"It's… fine… Haru… You can… wait outside." Sora said and gestured for me to leave with her hand. A part of me didn't want to leave her side, but I also felt sick myself at looking at my sister. _Sora is… a strong girl. I know I need to stop doting on her so much, she can take care of herself, at least this much._

"Call out if you need help, okay?" Sora nodded back at me, and I left her alone in the bathroom, stepping outside with Mikami. "Haah… Sorry that we're imposing on you like this, Mikami-san. Sora has been a little sickly recently, and she was feeling nauseous even this morning. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have refused Haruno-san's request to talk with us." In response, Mikami simply shook his head at me with a slight smile on his face.

"It's just common courtesy." Mikami said as he made his way over to his desk, placing his notebook aside all the papers on it. "While I'm not entirely comfortable with having a young girl throwing up in the bathroom of my hotel room, it is better both for the hotel and my conscience to have her here instead of out in the hallway." Mikami sat down on the seat next to the desk but turned it to face towards me, while I stayed by the door to the bathroom.

"Thank you again, Mikami-san." I smiled at the lawyer, then shifted my gaze to his desk. "If you don't mind me asking… Are all those papers for your work?" I couldn't hold in my curiosity any longer, and pointed a finger towards the stack of papers on Mikami's desk.

"Hm? Oh, these." Mikami picked up the topmost piece of paper and skimmed through it, before turning it around for me to see. _Writing? Looks like… Dialogue, maybe?_ "I'm not crazy enough to bring work with me on a vacation, but I'll be damned if I can't participate in my hobby while on one." Mikami read through what was written on the paper again, then sighed before placing it back down on top of the pile.

"Your hobby? So that was… something you wrote?" I took a few steps closer to Mikami, who turned around and began to rifle through the stack of papers, not showing any signs that would tell me I couldn't come closer, so I continued until I was standing next to him.

"Yes. I… Well, you two are good kids, and I've already told you I do creative writing as hobby, so you might as well know a little more." Mikami took a few of the papers and presented to me. "Have a look at these. What do you think?" I took the papers from Mikami and read through them one by one.

Each one contained what seemed to be a dialogue scene between two characters, where they discussed the usage of a special notebook given to one of the characters by the other one. While the contents of their dialogue were the same in each one, each "version" was distinctly different, like multiple iterations of the same scene. The first one was rather bland, and contained very little descriptiveness aside from the dialogue, while the second one was the opposite: its paragraphs were nearly twice as long and full of descriptions, both of the environment around the people talking and their gestures and expressions. From the first two, I could gather that one of the characters in the scene was distinctly _not human_ , noted in both by the character they were talking with, as well as the descriptions in the second one.

The third one stood out amongst the other two because it was written in first person, rather than third person like the first two were. The descriptiveness of the text remained the same as in the second one, but this time the descriptions were from the perspective of one of the two characters – the one who _was_ human – and the text incorporated their own thoughts as well. I was no expert at literary analysis, but at least to me, the scenes seemed well-written, though there was one thing I found odd.

"...Why write the same scene over and over like this?" I asked from Mikami as I handed the papers back to him, who placed the three sheets of paper on top of the pile on his desk.

"I guess you could say it's because I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Writing is my hobby, and while I am very passionate about it, I am still only starting out with it. I write different scenes in multiple different ways and then compare them together to try to find a writing style that suits me the best. I have plenty of ideas in my head, but I've not formed them into a coherent story yet, because I want that story to be the best possible iteration of itself that I can come up with. That means I have to work on finding a way to write that I can enjoy, but most importantly, a writing style I can enjoy _reading_ myself." Mikami picked up his notebook and held it in his hands, staring at the blank, black cover silently for a few seconds. _I see… If you yourself can't enjoy what you're creating, how can you expect others to enjoy it? Speaking of that…_

"Have you… _published_ anything yet? I mean, I know this is only your hobby, but..." Mikami shook his head in response, not taking his eyes off his notebook.

"Not yet, no. As I said, I have plenty of ideas in my head – both for stories and different elements for those stories – but I have nothing concrete that I could call a complete story." Mikami replied and then pointed at the stack of papers. "As you've just read, some of the ideas I have I've already made into specific scenes, and putting those scenes onto paper helps me visualize them and find ways to improve them, alongside helping with finding _the_ writing style for me. I know that I could just pluck one of those ideas or scenes and then just begin building upon it, writing more as the ideas come to me, but I'm not really a fan of improvising like that. Planning out a story and then changing it when necessary as I'm writing it would suit me better, I believe, but without even figuring out _how_ I want to write, I can't even think _what_ I want to write, yet." Mikami placed his notebook back on the table and began to rifle through all the papers again, sorting them into a neater pile as he did.

"I think I get you. So was that the ' _inspiration_ ' you mentioned earlier today, then?" Mikami nodded in reply to my question, pausing in his sorting to pick up his notebook again.

"Correct. As I said, I am a bit of a perfectionist, so when I write interactions between characters, I want those interactions to feel as natural as possible. In turn, that then means I have to observe real interactions between real people." Mikami opened his notebook and scanned through the pages, not stopping on any of them for long enough to read them. "In that way, this notebook is invaluable, as I use it as… well, a _notebook_ for these kinds of things. While my thought processes and testing I keep separate on easily disposable sheets of paper, I like to have my more organized thoughts and observations kept safe here. Of course, this is not the first notebook I've used for this purpose. I have one filled with my older notes here with me, and another one back home." Mikami closed his notebook and placed it back on the table, turning to face me as he did.

"This is quite impressive, Mikami-san, and definitely something I didn't expect from someone like you. Then again, before today, I didn't really know you all that well." I said to Mikami with a smile, then pointed at the stack of papers again. "What you wrote there was quite interesting, actually. Was that scene simply something you've thought of, or does it have more to it than that?"

"Oh, there is a little more. Though, I guess technically it's the idea I've worked with the most. The concept for the story revolves around the idea of being able to _kill_ someone with nothing but a thought – or in this case, with nothing but pen and paper – and the moral choices relating to having that kind of power. It… might _sound_ grim, but at least in my head, it's a good idea." Mikami picked up a few papers from the pile again and skimmed through them as he continued his explanation. "The protagonist – who I have not decided a name or gender for – comes across a peculiar notebook that has that power. Writing a person's name in it causes that person to die. Alternatively, the protagonist is _given_ that notebook by an otherworldly being, a _Shinigami_ , for unknown purposes." _A God of Death? That sounds quite interesting._ "I have a few other scenes written where other people gain access to this same power, and how these individuals would possible _fight_ for having sole access to it, though it is all simply unfinished ideas." Mikami placed the papers back into the pile and looked at me again. "One day, though, I would like to put these ideas together into a story."

"If that day comes, I'll be sure to read that story." I replied to Mikami with a smile. "Questioning morals is something I… well, I guess I find the idea fascinating. Every person is different, and every culture is different. We all have our own morals. What might seem right and just by one could be horrible to another. I'd definitely be interested in a story that explores the differences in moral choices between individuals." Mikami seemed to be taken aback a little by my words. _What I'm saying is true, of course. The subject of morality is close to my heart, given my relationship with Sora and how many others would view such a relationship as_ immoral _, but we don't._

"I'll be sure to get you a signed first copy of the book, then." Mikami replied to me with a smile, then looked back at the stack of papers on his desk. "If I ever get to it, that is." A light chuckle escaped my mouth, and we heard the unmistakeable sound of a toilet being flushed, followed by the bathroom door opening.

"Haru?" Sora's voice came from behind me, and I turned around to face my sister.

"Sora! How are you feeling?" I asked as I walked over to Sora. _She doesn't look pale or anything, though the smell is… Not that bad,_ _actually. I think a shower may be in order, nonetheless._

"I'm feeling fine now, Haru. I… didn't actually throw up that much." Sora replied with a smile. "Sorry, that must have sounded gross. Anyway, I'm not feeling nauseous any more. Taking it easy for a couple of minutes seemed to have helped."

"That's good to hear, though I would still advice for you to lie down." Mikami said and stood up from his seat, making his way over to us. "You should really tell the rest of us if you're ill, I'm sure Harri would let you rest. Miura-san was ill for a good while before you two came here, not taking part in the activities Harri had given us while she rested."

"Ah, it's fine, Mikami-san. I… don't think I'm actually ill or anything. These bouts of nauseousness seem to come and go at random, but most of the time I feel absolutely fine. If I had to guess… It's because I'm not used to being this active, and I'm just feeling tired." Sora explained. _Of course, we can't tell Mikami-san that we think Sora's sudden illness may be because she's pregnant. And if she isn't… what Sora just proposed is plausible._

"Hmmm… If you say so. You should still keep yourself safe." Mikami said to my sister, before turning to me. "And the same goes for you. Keep looking out for your sister."

"Always, Mikami-san. She wouldn't get anything done if I didn't." I replied with a smile and ruffled my sister's hair, while she gave me a small pout. "We'll… take our leave, then. Thanks for the help again, Mikami-san, and good luck with your writing." Mikami nodded at me in reply, another smile appearing on his face.

"I feel like I'll need it. It was… nice talking with you two. I hope we get a chance for it again." It was my turn to nod to Mikami as we exited his room, with him closing the door behind us leaving us alone in the hallway.

"Right, let's get back and shower you, Sora. Then you can take it easy for the rest of the day, hopefully." I said and took my sister's hand as we began to make our way down the hallway to our room.

"Would that involve lying down in the bed – _with you_?" Sora asked with a cheeky smile.

"We'll see about that. We do need to make sure you're okay first, though. If your nauseousness is a result of some illness… I wouldn't want for it to get worse." Sora let out a sigh next to me, but she didn't say anything, likely understanding my worry. "Although… I _do_ need to make sure you don't fall over in the shower or anything like that..." Sora perked up immediately as she realized the implications of my words and latched onto my side.

"Ah, what would I do without my darling brother looking out for me..." Sora said, glanced behind us, then planted a kiss on my cheek. "Just remember not to waste any shots. After all..."

" _We need to make sure we hit the target directly~!"_

* * *

 **AN: And that's a wrap! This took longer to come out than I initially planned to, but that can be blamed on Pokémon Sword & Shield releasing on the day I was supposed to finish this chapter. #SobbleSquad, anyone? Also, _Shield_ is superior to _Sword_ , hands down, thanks to the version exclusive Ice-type Gym Leader Melony. Sorry, Bea is cute and all, but Melony takes the cake.**

 **That aside, I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I've had Mikami's "hobby" planned out for quite a while, but only now got around to writing about it. While some things I wrote about how Mikami likes to write are glimpses into my own creative process, I usually just wing things. Ever since chapter 6, I've mostly improvised when it comes to chapters and story elements, coming up with them as I go, and so far it's been working for me. Of course, I've also improved as a writer over the course of this story, and my writing style has changed ever so slightly.**

 **Anyway, the next chapter should come out sooner, though I tend to say that with every chapter I write and never seem to be able to hold out on that promise. Until then, cheerio!**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN:** **Hello again, dear readers! Some of you may have noticed this already, but I've published a new story! "** _ **Checkmate**_ **"** __ **is a** _ **My Youth Romantic Comedy SNAFU**_ **fanfic that I have been planning on writing for well over half a year, now, and the central characters in it should be familiar to readers of this story as well. That being said, I do want to point out that these two stories are not "directly" connected, despite there being some big implications for that, mostly because the timelines for the two stories don't match up properly. You can imagine it as… alternate realities, because those are always fun. The reality that this story takes place in also had the events of** _ **Checkmate**_ **happen in it, but at a much earlier date (thus allowing the characters to meet as they have done in this story), if that makes sense. All in all, it's one big cross-reference between the two stories, so I'm not going to worry** _ **too**_ **much about consistency.**

 **Now, after that brief plug, let's get this chapter started!**

* * *

 **Chapter 18 – Planning the Future**

"Eh?! Legal guardians?" Two voices exclaimed in surprise, perfectly in sync with each other.

"Ah, well… We just wanted to know what you thought of the idea. I wouldn't expect you to immediately just say yes to something like this." I nodded along with my brother, while the two people in front of us turned to face each other, their faces clearly showing their confusion. _I don't blame them for being surprised, we did kin_ _d_ _of just bring that up out of the blue._ I brought my drink up to my lips as my gaze scanned over the two people sitting on the other side of the table – Okazaki Tomoya and Okazaki Kyou, with their daughter Ushio sitting to our right.

"Well… I guess I'm not _opposed_ to the idea, but… what brought this on so suddenly?" The purple eyes of Kyou shifted their focus between me and my brother, while her husband seemed to be asking the same question with just his expression.

"To put it shortly… Our relatives. I've told you about them back when we arrived here, Tomoya-san, and now that this vacation... well, it might come to a close soon, so the issue 'resurfaced', if you will. We talked about this with Mikami-san and Hideki on Sunday, and… Well, let me explain..." I picked up a chicken nugget from my tray as Haru began his brief explanation of our current situation, chewing on it as I watched Ushio quietly observe the grown-ups talking. When the young girl's amber eyes mine, she looked away in embarrassment and began to eat her food again, bringing a slight smile to my face. _Hehee… I wonder if mine and Haru's child will be as cute..?_

The five of us were currently sat at a table at a fast food restaurant, Haru and I having been invited to eat lunch here earlier today by Kyou and Tomoya. We had no reason to refuse the invitation, as it gave us a chance to talk with the Okazakis in a more "private" manner – like we had discussed with Hideki both in-person on Sunday and over the phone yesterday.

After our little "chats" with Yukinoshita Haruno and Mikami, Haru and I spent some _quality time_ together, though with Haru's concern over my health, we didn't do anything _too_ crazy, opting to simply cuddle on the bed after a _quickie_ in the shower and another one on said bed. However, it didn't take long for our alone time to be interrupted again, this time by Hideki, who wanted to come see us before he began his trip back home. We ended up telling Hideki about our most recent cause for concern – our eventual return home – and asked him for advice. We knew that we had to return back home at some point, possibly quite soon, but we didn't know what we would do afterwards – especially regarding our relatives. For obvious reasons, Haru and I don't want to get separated, but we both feared that our aunt and uncle would force that onto us the moment we stepped back onto Japanese land. After some brainstorming and bouncing around ideas, the suggestion Hideki thought would work out the best was the one we had already heard from Mikami earlier that day: having someone become our legal guardian in place of our closest relatives.

More specifically, having the _Okazakis_ become our legal guardians.

While Hideki would have been more than happy to do it for us, him living in Finland posed problems, both legally and in the sense that our aunt and uncle would likely not accept such an agreement. The Okazakis were a sound choice, and even Hideki bet that they would be up for it, if we just asked them. Which is how we get to the present.

"I see… So basically, to avoid your aunt and uncle separating you two when you return to Japan, you want someone else to become your legal guardian in their place, so you can continue to live like you have been doing up until now?" Tomoya furrowed his brows slightly as Haru nodded to him in reply, having just finished explaining our sudden request to him and his wife.

"That is correct. As I said, we talked about this briefly with Mikami-san two days ago – and a little bit yesterday as well – and he told us that if our aunt and uncle wanted to do so, they have every legal right for it – unless we can get them to agree on having someone else take over as our legal guardians in our parents' absence." Haru repeated, glancing at me briefly. "Since Hideki can't do it himself… we were kind of hoping you'd consider it." Haru rubbed the back of his neck as his gaze shifted between the Okazakis. "O-of course, you wouldn't need to worry about financially supporting us, this would just be for the legal side of things to get our relatives off from breathing down our necks until we're of age." _Hideki did promise us that he'd 'fight for us' against our aunt and uncle if necessary, and that he would help us financially if we ran into any problems, but… Even I'm starting to feel a little bad for accepting all of his kindness without paying him back._

"Well..." Tomoya scratched his cheek, briefly glancing first at his wife, then his daughter, before turning to us with a smile. "I would gladly do this for you two, but.. how exactly would we go about doing it?" Haru's face lit up as Tomoya answered in the positive, and even I felt a smile growing on my face. _This is going well so far..!_

"Do I not get a say in this, Tomoya?" Kyou interrupted her husband in a slightly irritated tone, surprising both him and us. "I mean… I'm all for helping Sora and Haruka, but you need to ask these things from me first." Kyou crossed her arms under her chest and let out a sigh.

"Well, I figured you'd say yes anyway, so I didn't see the point of asking." Kyou's eye twitched a little, and she raised her hand above Tomoya's head. "Ah! S-sorry, Kyou-sama! I'll ask you first for everything from now on!" Letting out another sigh, Kyou lowered her hand and turned to us again, and I had to stifle a giggle that nearly escaped from my mouth.

"What a hopeless man I've married… Anyway, I'd be _more_ than happy to help you with this, Sora, Haruka. Your relatives don't truly know you or understand everything you've been through if they want to separate you two simply because it's inconvenient to take care of two teens. Like, you two are pretty independent already, perfectly capable of taking care of yourselves-" Kyou's gaze briefly flicked to me, and I felt my cheeks heating up in embarrassment. _I-I'm getting better at not relying on Haru for everything, I swear!_ "-and apparently watching over you for like, what, a couple of years is too much work? I'd like to have a word with your aunt and uncle." Kyou's frustration was clear in her voice, and I felt happy that she felt angry at them for us.

" _Arigatou_ , Kyou-san. Hearing that from you… It means a lot." I said to the older woman with a smile, and she returned the gesture to me. _I've already admitted to Kyou-san that I see her almost like a mother… With this, that would not be far from reality._

"Anything for you two, Sora. Anyway, my husband does raise a valid point. You said this would only encompass the legal side of things, Haruka, but how exactly would that play out? We'd need your relatives' approval at least, right?" Kyou continued as she turned her gaze to my brother.

"That's exactly what we talked about with Mikami-san on Sunday, and on yesterday after we finished discussing things with Hideki over the phone." Haru replied, not going into detail about _what_ we discussed about with Hideki – the possibility of us telling Tomoya and Kyou the _truth_. _We want to do it… And if we get this through, it is a good chance for it, but… Not yet._ "Mikami-san's knowledge as a lawyer has been immense helpful to us, and together, we've been able to identify ways to handle this situation of ours." Haru paused for a moment to study the faces of the Okazakis, then glanced at me briefly before continuing. "At first we thought that _adoption_ could be a solution, since apart from the initial changes to the _koseki_ **[1]** at the time of our parents'… _death_ , no legal procedures have been done regarding our situation – which is why Sora and I were able to live independently in Okukozome without much interference from our relatives. However… the adoption laws back home are quite strict. Since Sora and I are over fifteen years of age, we would qualify for _adult adoption_ , but since you two already have a child..." Haru's gaze flicked to Ushio briefly, and the young girl looked back at him, as if she realized that the grown-ups were now talking about her. "...The law would only allow you to adopt _one_ of us, which is exactly the situation we are trying to avoid in the first place." Tomoya brought a hand to his chin in thought at Haru's words.

"Yes… the family registry stuff can be a bit of a pain sometimes. Kyou and I didn't really have any problems with it when we married, but I've heard some stories from my work colleagues. The system is a bit _archaic_ , I think." Tomoya commented while Kyou nodded along with her husband. "It isn't foolproof either. Just last year the government did research on people who had been ' _exploiting_ ' it by simply not telling the authorities that their elderly relatives had died, allowing them to claim their pensions for years."

"I think Mikami-san mentioned that too." I said as I tried to remember the conversation we had with the lawyer yesterday. "He called the system antiquated, and in dire need of updating." After I finished, a waitress came over to our table holding a tray in her hands.

" _One Mega burger, one Chicken burger and a Warm chicken salad?_ " The waitress asked as she came up to us, checking our order from the receipt in her other hand.

" _Ah, yes, that's correct. Thank you!_ " Tomoya thanked the waitress, who gave us the food, before leaving for another table. "Hmm… This doesn't look as 'Mega' as I expected it to, but… Oh well. Watching Sora and Ushio eat has made me even hungrier, so… _Itadakimasu_." Tomoya bit into his burger while Kyou let out a sigh and took her salad, handing Haru his chicken burger with her other hand. _I didn't want to wait, so I chose chicken nuggets, which were done relatively quickly,_ _and there was a kid meal ready-made, so Ushio didn't have to wait either._

"So… if adopting you two is not an option, did Mikami-san tell you how difficult it would be to just make us your legal guardians, then? I don't think that would require any messing around with your _koseki_ , though my only experience is becoming Ushio's legal guardian through marriage." Kyou asked as she began to eat her salad with a plastic fork.

"Ah, well..." Haru washed down his first bite out of his burger with some soda before responding. "In theory, it should be relatively simple, but in practice… it becomes a little difficult. Basically, it would involve negotiating with our relatives to make someone else – in this case, you – our legal guardians in their place, though it would require a good enough reason to start those negotiations in the first place, and the approval from our current guardians, our aunt and uncle. Problems arise with the _reason_ for handing over legal guardianship, and whether or not our relatives would agree to it. Mikami-san told us that normally, a good enough reason for handing over legal guardianship – temporarily or permanently – would be that the current legal guardian is incapable of taking care of the children and providing for them, due to economic troubles, or a disability of some kind. In our case, however… Both our aunt and uncle would be perfectly capable of taking care of us, but would separate us to ' _ease the load_ ' for themselves."

"And they have every legal right to do so, as there is no law that forbids siblings from being separated in a situation like this." I interjected to give my brother a breather. "As we are still underage, we would have little to say in this matter, since currently, the rights and _obligation_ to be our legal guardians are with our aunt and uncle, being our closest relatives. We are under their supervision until we become twenty, no matter how independent we are already. Of course, one way out of this would be if one – or both – of us got _married_ , but… even that would require permission from them." I looked towards Haru as Tomoya furrowed his brows on the other side of the table. _If only I could just marry Haru, then all our problems would be solved._

"So you need a reason good enough for the family court to begin the process of transferring legal guardianship from your aunt and uncle to us, huh?" Tomoya repeated what Haru said in the form of a question, but didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "Is there no way that you could plead for it based on the fact that they plan on separating you? You both do still have your rights, and should get a say in this, since it directly concerns you."

"Perhaps, but it is a weak argument in front of a court." Haru replied and bit into his burger again.

"Hmm… Do they have any children?" Kyou asked from us, and after a brief moment of thought, Haru shook his head. _We have no cousins close to our age, apart from maybe some distant relatives from our mother's side, but they wouldn't be in the Kasugano family registry._ "Maybe you could say that due to not having any prior experience with raising children, they are unfit to take care of you two?" Kyou glanced at Ushio briefly, and I followed her gaze to meet the curious eyes of the young girl.

"That… might work out. If the court accepts it, it would make you more favourable to being our guardians over our childless relatives." I replied, still looking at Ushio. _Although,_ _neither Kyou-san or Tomoya-san_ _has experience raising and providing for teenagers. At least some experience with raising children is better than no experience, though, right?_

"It still leaves us with the second problem, though." Haru continued after me. "We… don't actually know what our aunt and uncle think about this whole situation, and what exactly they are planning on doing other than taking us in. Given what their attitude has been towards us, they don't seem to really care for us much, and Mikami-san hypothesized that they may just now be acting due to some obligation they feel they have towards our late parents, or because they've encountered some legal problems with not actually taking care of and providing for us like they should be. I did try to talk with our uncle back when he informed us of this, but… he didn't really care for listening to me." I saw Kyou's grip on her fork tightening slightly as Haru finished, but she stayed quiet.

"...And then you two went on this trip to get away from them." Haru nodded to Tomoya, then began to drink his soda while I threw one of my last remaining nuggets into my mouth. _I wish we could just stay here, away from them until we're both twenty, but.. We can't rely on Hideki forever, and staying that long in a foreign country where we don't know the language has its own problems._ "Hmm… If they really don't care for you two, that could also be a valid reason for pleading to the Family court to transfer guardianship to someone else, would it not?" _That… is actually a good idea…_

"I… think that might just be it, Tomoya-san." Haru replied, glancing at me with a smile. "Of course, as we don't know what our relatives really think, we can't be sure, but… The court should be able to see that you two are far more suited to be our legal guardians over them. That is… if you really are up for this..?" Kyou and Tomoya turned to look at each other, then back to us with warm smiles on their faces.

"Of course we will, Haruka." Kyou replied affirmatively, her smile affixed with a motherly glow that melted all of my – and Haru's as well, I guessed – worries about this situation. "If it's to help out others, my husband can't say no, the big softie." The older woman then playfully nudged her husband with her elbow, who scowled a little in return.

"Yeah yeah, I can't not help those in need and so forth, I've heard that a million times." Tomoya replied in a slightly exasperated tone – possibly in mock – and aggressively took a bite out of his burger.

"And that's one of the reasons I love you, Tomoya." Kyou said and planted a quick kiss on Tomoya's cheek, causing him to freeze up completely as a slight blush made its way onto his face. _They are such a sweet pair…_ "So, I assume you two will be wanting to do this as soon as possible when you return home, as to not give your relatives time to forcefully separate you, yes?" Kyou then asked from us, her gaze shifting between me and my brother.

"Ah, we..." Haru began, looking towards me sheepishly. _We… haven't really thought of returning yet… Or rather,_ when _to return…_ "...Most likely, yes. We… haven't put much thought into the exact actions we want to take when returning… For all we know, our relatives might be waiting for us at the airport when we return, and we kind of needed your confirmation with whether or not you would help us before setting any plans into stone. When… are you going to return to Japan?" Hearing Haru's question, Kyou looked down at her salad in thought for a few moments.

"Our plane tickets are round-trip ones, and our flight back is on the 29th, which is next Monday. Tomoya doesn't start work until the following week, but I and Ushio need to be back by the first of September, when the next semester begins." Kyou explained to us. _Right, the next semester… I wonder when ours starts..? Will we even be able to go back to school? What about… our_ classmates _?_ A slight feeling of _dread_ appeared in the pit of my stomach as the faces of our classmates (I am reluctant to call them my _friends_ , as I wasn't really that close with them) flashed in my mind. _They_ _definitely_ _know about us._ _A_ _t least Nao and Kuranaga-san do,_ _though_ _I'm not sure_ _of the others, or if they accept mine and Haru's relationship… However..._

 _Do I even really care?_

 _We've made new friends here, so do I even_ need _to care what they would think of us?_

 _I don't think I do._

"How about you two, then?" Tomoya asked from us after recovering from Kyou's sudden and unexpected display of affection with a sip of his own drink, and I pushed my previous thoughts out of my mind. _That's something we'll have to face when we return, no need to worry about now. There are more pressing matters anyway – if things go the way our aunt and uncle intend to, we won't even see our classmates again._ "I remember you mentioning that you might stay on this trip for longer than the summer vacation lasts, so when do you exactly plan on going back then?" Haru and I looked at each other again, the look we shared conveying the same thought to each other that we both had.

"To put it simply… we don't know." Haru admitted with a slight grimace, and I nodded alongside him. "On one hand, we probably should return home at the end of August, so we can go back to school on time, but on the other, we don't really _want_ to go back yet, because of the situation with our relatives."

"We came on this vacation without planning when to return. We just knew that we had to get away from our aunt and uncle, to have some time alone with just the two of us." I continued after Haru, carefully avoiding not to say _too_ much. _Kyou-san and Tomoya-san already know that we are_ close as siblings _, so they shouldn't suspect anything. But even if they do… Well, we do plan on telling them, eventually._ _Though,_ _I would prefer that they hear it from us directly, rather than finding out that we've been keeping such a secret from them all this time._

"I see… So… how about returning home on the same flight with us?" Tomoya suggested, glancing at his wife briefly. _That… would be one option._ "If we're going through with becoming your legal guardians, sticking together would be optimal." Kyou was about continue from where Tomoya had left off, but was interrupted before she could do so by Ushio grabbing onto her sleeve.

"Mama… I want to go play." Ushio said and pointed towards the other side of the room, where, through one of the doorways leading out of the restaurant, one could spot a small indoor playground meant for children.

"Oh, of course, Ushio. Have you eaten already?" Ushio nodded to Kyou in reply, and I looked over to see that Ushio had finished her burger already, leaving just some fries. _She's quite…_ clean _for how young she is, and ate rather quickly. Though, I guess she wasn't talking with others while doing it, so that's understandable._ I thought and picked up my second-to-last chicken nugget, noting that it had almost gotten cold when I bit into it. "Alright, you can go play while you wait for us to finish, okay?" Kyou patted the young girl on the head, then turned to her husband. "Tomoya, go watch over Ushio, will you?" Tomoya, who was currently in the midst of chewing on some fries, looked back at Kyou with a flabbergasted expression. "Won't you, Tomoya?" Tomoya swallowed the fries in his mouth and let out a sigh as Kyou pleaded him with her gaze, then threw the remnants of his burger into his mouth and quickly devoured it.

"Alright, alright. Come on, Ushio. Let's go play while mama talks about boring things with Sora-onee-chan and Haruka-onii-chan." Tomoya said as he stood up, earning a scowl from his wife as he did, though he ignored her. _Boring things? I know you said that_ _as a_ _playful_ _jab towards Kyou-san, but Haru and I are right here, you know…_ Kyou let out a quiet sigh as Tomoya and Ushio began to make their way away from us, the young girl glancing briefly at us to offer a small wave, a gesture which both Kyou and I returned.

"Right, so..." Hearing Kyou's voice again, I turned back to face the purple-haired woman. "I think Tomoya's suggestion of returning home together is a good idea. I know you said that you haven't put much thought into what you want to do upon returning, but..." Kyou's words trailed off, and Haru looked upwards in thought for a few moments. _We… could return to Okukozome, and wait for our relatives to contact us… If they're not there to welcome us back home. Though the word 'welcome' is a bit too positive in this situation._

"I guess… We should probably contact our aunt and uncle as soon as possible, even though I'm not particularly fond of the idea. But, we need to know what they're planning on doing, and we need to tell them of our plans as well, and how much they're going to oppose us." Haru said to Kyou as she put a piece of chicken from her salad into her mouth. "Once we have more info of their side in this, we can decide what to do next. If they oppose the idea, we'll have to take it to court and plead our case, but… There is always the possibility that they will simply accept it. Our relatives haven't really cared for us that much, so they might even be _happy_ to be able to get rid of us." I saw the scowl return to Kyou's face as she heard Haru's words, and I felt my own mood souring as well. _Knowing them, that doesn't sound too far off… Good riddance, I'd say. I have no respect for them whatsoever._

"So, I guess things will become clear once we get back to Japan, huh? There are a few unknowns in this, and I would prefer to plan a little more in advance, but… If we can't solve this issue now, we'll just have to wait until we can contact your relatives." Haru glanced at me briefly as Kyou finished, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. _We technically_ could _contact them, with Haru's phone, but… They haven't contacted us at all, which either means that they're not_ able _to contact us, or that they simply haven't bothered to do so. Either way, there's no incentive for us to make the first move._ "Well, we can't plan for that in advance, but we can plan for something else." Kyou's words piqued my interest, and I looked over at the now-smiling woman with a raised eyebrow. "You two still have that house in Okukozome, right?"

"Oh, um… Yes, we do. While it does technically belong to our relatives, Okukozome is such a small place that nobody really cares about stuff like that, so we were able to live in it as if was our own. Unless our relatives have sold the place… It should still be as we left it." I cringed a little at the memory of the house. _Yeah, the way we left it… Haru and I_ did _have a bit of a fight before we left, and the house suffered some collateral damage. If it's stayed untouched, there'll be a lot of cleaning to do._

"I'm assuming you two will want to still live there, then?" Haru and I looked at each other again, before nodding to Kyou. _While I would still prefer an actual city over Okukozome… I did kind of get attached to the place and its peacefulness._ "Right, I guessed as much. Well, if you ever find yourselves on the street… You can always come live with us in Hikarizaka." Kyou continued with a smile. "What are your plans for finance, then? You… don't have a lot of money left, do you? Sorry if I'm a bit insensitive, I'm just worried."

"We… don't." Haru admitted, his gaze dropping slightly. "Hideki did promise to help us out if we ran into any problems, but… I don't really want to rely on him after we return home. If Sora and I are going to be independent, we need to do something for that independence. Okukozome is a small place, but… I should be able to find a part-time job of some kind, maybe at Ifukube-san's store, or at the local shrine… I'll have to look into it." Haru rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand, and I reached out and grabbed onto his wrist, earning a look of surprise from both him and Kyou.

" _We'll_ look into it, Haru." I said to my brother with a determined face. "If we're going to pursue a future together, I can't just slack off while you do all the work, Haru." A few moments passed, before Haru smiled at me, lowering his hand onto the table while I still kept holding onto his wrist.

"Of course. Sorry, Sora." Satisfied with Haru's answer, I smiled at him and let go of his wrist, resisting the urge to lean in and kiss him on the cheek, then turning to face Kyou again, who seemed to still be in a surprised state. "Kyou-san..?" Hearing Haru say her name, Kyou blinked, then shook her head a little.

"A-ah, right, sorry. I just… your choice of words was very interesting, Sora..." Kyou said and scratched her cheek awkwardly, and I tensed up, realizing what I had said. _I… didn't say too much, did I?_ "I was just momentarily surprised, that's all. I know you two are close, and you've said that you want to stay together, so it makes sense. _Ahem_. So, while we are on the topic of _plans_ and your _future_..." Kyou seemed to shift uncomfortably in her seat, and I instantly knew where she was going with this. "You two… want to raise a child together, right?" Haru tensed up slightly next to me, while I tried to keep my cool. _Good thing Haru and I talked about everything we've told Kyou-san and Tomoya-san,_ _otherwise we might have been in trouble when this topic eventually came up with both of us around._

"That's right. Sora and I… It's something both of us want." Haru replied and looked towards me briefly, and I nodded in affirmation to his words. "Sora especially, but as her brother, I want to be there for her and support her with this." Kyou looked downwards thoughtfully, her gaze flicking between us and her salad.

"Right. And you wanted to… _carry_ the child yourself, Sora, instead of adopting?" I nodded in reply to Kyou's question. _She seems hesitant in bringing it up…_ "And since you don't have a partner… artificial i-insemination is your only choice..." As she trailed off again, Kyou's gaze shifted from me to my brother. _The atmosphere is getting kind of tense..._

"Correct." I replied and glanced at Haru, who gave me a small nod. "However… I would have to be married to qualify for it. That leaves us with only one option. Having Haru be my donor." I had already told this to Kyou, but she still seemed to tense up at my words, and averted her gaze from us.

"We've talked about this, and are aware of the risks. But, if it means we get to raise a child together, we are ready to take those risks. Of course, if there was another way to go about doing this, we probably would, but… We don't really have many options, especially since we aren't legally adults, yet." Kyou bit her lip as she listened to Haru's words, still looking away from us.

"You… You understand, right, Kyou-san?" I asked, and for a brief moment, Kyou met my gaze with her own. "I couldn't trust this with anyone but Haru."

"I… I do understand, just…" Kyou tired to find something to say, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was a sigh. "This… this is your decision, and if you're okay with it… I shouldn't judge you. Just that… Sorry, you are teetering on an edge with this, but… I guess it wouldn't hurt anyone." Kyou then said, allowing a small smile onto her face. "I… should probably be supportive of you two in this, if I'm going to be your guardian in the near future. As long as you know the risks… it should be fine." I let out the breath I didn't notice I was holding in and smiled back at the older woman. _She's okay with the idea of our child being… well,_ actually _ours… I'm glad. This is one step closer to our ultimate objective._

"Thank you, Kyou-san. We know what we're getting into with this, but this is important to Sora, to _both_ of us. Besides, we wouldn't want to keep something like this from you." Haru said to Kyou with a smile. "How do you think Tomoya-san will react, though?" He then asked.

"Oh, well… Tomoya is quite laid-back, I don't think he would care much." Kyou replied, and I could feel the tenseness in the air dissipating. "You've talked about this with him, right, Haruka?" My brother nodded to Kyou in reply, and she smiled at us again. "Then it should be fine, so this isn't completely out of the blue for him. I… I'm sorry, again, for making this awkward. I was just a little shocked you two were actually going through with it." Haru and I looked at each other, then shook our heads at Kyou to tell her we weren't offended.

"It's fine, Kyou-san. I'm – _we're –_ glad you understand. In any case, we need to deal with the situation with our relatives first, and make sure we can get our lives in a steady place – hopefully – in Okukozome, so we'll be ready to take care of the child." Haru said, and Kyou gave him an understanding nod in reply. _Although, if I am already pregnant…_ _We'd need start with preparing soon. I'll need to redo the pregnancy test as well…_

"Ah! So you _were_ here after all." A voice called out to us from behind, and I instantly tensed up upon hearing it. _No…_ Briefly glancing at Haru, I turned around to confirm my fears. "Yahhallo, Sora, Haru!" Yukinoshita Haruno waved at us enthusiastically as she hastily made her way over to us, and I had to put all my willpower into preventing a scowl appearing on my face. _Why is_ she _here?_

"Haruno-san. What… brings you here. Lunch?" Haru asked from Haruno, looking towards Kyou briefly to offer her an apologetic smile. _We can't very well continue our conversation if she_ _sticks around…_

"Nothing in particular. I was going to spend the day with Yukino-chan and the others, but they ditched me _again_ , can you believe?" _Yes, we can._ "So, when I was wandering around, I happened to see Tomoya-san playing with Ushio-chan just outside, and decided to strike up a conversation. He told me he was were here together with you two." Haruno looked towards Haru and I with a smile, then shifted her attention to Kyou. "Ah, and hello to you as well, Kyou-san." Kyou seemed a little surprised at Haruno's casual use of her first name, as – to my knowledge – the two hadn't interacted much. I guessed this was the first time Haruno had properly spoken with the couple.

"Good afternoon, Yukinoshita-san." Kyou said to the younger woman with a slight smile. "We're… just about done with our meals, but… would you like to join us? We haven't talked much since you arrived here." It was an innocent request, and I understood completely why Kyou had done it. She didn't know what Yukinoshita Haruno was like, after all.

"Haruno is fine, Kyou-san. Wouldn't want to get me mixed up with Yukino-chan, now would you?" Haruno replied, then glanced around our table, her gaze finally landing on my tray, where a single chicken nugget was remaining. "And while I'm not usually one for fast food… I think I'll take you up on that offer." Haruno placed her handbag on the free seat on our left, opposite of where Ushio had sat, while reaching out towards my tray with her other hand.

"Buy your own food." I said as I pulled my tray away from her, glaring at her while doing so. Yukinoshita Haruno simply looked back at me for a few seconds with an eerie smile on her face, before taking her wallet out of her handbag and walking away, not saying a word back to me.

"That… was a bit rude, Sora." Kyou said once Haruno had disappeared from sight as she made her way over to the counter to order. "Do you… not get along with her?" I looked down at the chicken nugget on my tray and let out a sigh.

"Not really, no. She… She's been meddling in our life quite actively after arriving here, and as we value our privacy… It gets a little irritating." I replied and picked up the chicken nugget from my tray, idly examining it. "Not even her sister likes having her around." I threw the nugget into my mouth. _Cold… At least Haru still has fries left._

"Oh, I see… That's too bad, I guess. I didn't take Yukinoshita Haruno to be that kind of person. She seemed quite nice." Kyou resumed eating her salad with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Well…" Haru began reluctantly, holding the remains of his chicken burger in his hands. "I don't think she's _that_ bad of a person. She just seems to be a little _too_ interested in the lives of other people and likes to meddle in things that don't really concern her. At least, that's what her sister and Hikigaya have told us about her." Haru explained, then ate the last of his burger.

"I don't particularly like her, but… I can tolerate her presence for now." I said to Kyou and nabbed a few fries from my brother's tray. "A shame we won't be able to discuss our plans any further, though. Oh, and… thanks again for agreeing to help us, Kyou-san." I continued with a smile, noticing Haruno coming back to our table in the corner of my eye.

"Don't mention it. Helping you two is my pleasure." Kyou replied with a smile as Haruno returned, the tray she was carrying boasting quite an impressive-looking chocolate milkshake on it, topped with a generous amount of whipped cream. I had to admit, looking at it made my mouth water, but I ignored the feeling and focused on my fries instead. _Show-off._

"Hm? You're helping Sora and Haru with something, Kyou-san?" Haruno asked as she sat down, placing the plastic order marker from her tray on the edge of the table, where any passing waitress would be able to spot it. _So the milkshake isn't enough for her?_ _I can bet she ordered something flashy or trendy…_

"Oh, well, yes." Kyou replied and glanced at Haru before continuing. "Just something they requested my help with back home in Japan." Kyou's answer to Haruno's question was vague, and she clearly conveyed with it that it was none of Haruno's business. "How could I not help these two when they so kindly asked?" Haruno studied Kyou's face for a few moments, before her rose-coloured eyes shifted their focus to Haru and I.

"Indeed. No-one can make it in this world by themselves, after all, so helping others is the least we can do to make our own lives better as well." Haruno's reply was… _unexpected_ , to say the least, though there was an odd undertone to it that I couldn't quite place. _I assumed that she would have_ _tried to pry some more information out of us… Is she_ behaving _with Kyou-san around?_ "Anyway, I would like to know more about you, Kyou-san. We haven't gotten many chances to talk, after all."

Surprisingly, Yukinoshita Haruno kept true to her word as she chatted away with Kyou, asking the older woman various questions about her life while occasionally drinking from her milkshake. Kyou told the younger woman basically everything we knew about her and Tomoya already, from their time together in High school, Tomoya's marriage to Nagisa and her unfortunate death, and finally his remarriage to Kyou. After a few minutes, a waitress brought Haruno her second order – a soy tortilla – and it didn't take long after that for Tomoya and Ushio to rejoin us as well, the scene turning into light chatter between the three adults while Haruno ate. Haru and I joined in the conversation every now and then, but apart from the occasional question from Haruno directed at us whenever a topic allowed it, we were _strangely_ left alone by Haruno. After her declaration of "finding out" whatever Haru and I _supposedly_ were hiding from her – which we were, of course, but she didn't need to know that – on Sunday, I had expected her sudden and _convenient_ appearance to mean that she was here to do as she had said, but with the way she talked with the Okazakis… That didn't seem to be the case. However, I still couldn't let myself feel at ease. Something about Yukinoshita Haruno was making me feel on edge, more so than usual, as if she was a mousetrap ready to be triggered at any moment if I let my guard down. _It definitely isn't a coincidence that she just happened to come here as we were in the middle of lunch, not after what she said on Sunday. She has to be up to something, trying to get Haru or I to slip something._ Having long since been finished with my food, I tried my best to observe Yukinoshita Haruno as she conversed, trying to see past the facade she had up to discern what she was really trying to do, what she was really thinking, but to no avail. _It's no use, I'm no good at stuff like this._ I glanced at Haru, and my brother silently met my gaze. _I wonder if Haru has picked up something..? If only Hikigaya-san or Yukino-san were here, they'd definitely be able to tell if something was up with her. Then again… Now that I think about it, why would Haruno-san tell us of what she's planning? Wouldn't it be better to just observe us stealthily, if she really wants to find out if we have secrets or not? Gah, it doesn't make sense, and my brain is hurting…_ Suddenly, the conversation around us was interrupted as Haru's phone began to ring.

"Ah, sorry, it's mine..." Haru said with an apologetic smile as he took out his phone. "Oh, it's Hideki. Sorry, I'll go answer it real quick." Haru continued as he stood up, glancing between everyone seated at our table.

"I'll be done by the time you come back, so maybe we can continue this little excursion of ours together, hm?" Yukinoshita Haruno replied and gestured to her milkshake, having already finished her tortilla some time ago.

"That's..." Haru quickly glanced at me, and I shook my head a little at him. _We won't be able to just shake her off, now, so there's no point in protesting._ "That's fine by us. I'll try to make this quick." Kyou and Tomoya nodded to my brother, who began to make his way over to where Ushio and Tomoya had played, picking up the call on the way.

"Hmmm… I talked with him for some time while he was here, but… What is Hideki-san's exact relationship with you two?" Haruno asked from me after Haru had left, tilting her head slightly. "From the impression I got, he is the person you are – or at least were – staying with on this vacation. A relative?"

"No, just a family friend, you could say." I replied to Haruno. "He knows… _knew_ our parents, and was a good friend to them. When we decided that we… _needed a vacation_ , Haru contacted him and we came here, stayed at his summer cottage for nearly two weeks, then arrived here and joined Harri's little group. He's… been a good friend to us, to say the least." I explained, leaving out the most crucial details.

"Really? With how caring and _generous_ he was with you, I could have sworn he had to have some familial relation to you two. You don't see people as kind as him every day." Haruno said with her usual smile on her face, gazing off to where Haru had gone for a few moments, before turning back to me. "Why did you come on this vacation, then? Just to have some fun with your brother over the summer?" _There it is._ The question I had waited for had finally left Haruno's mouth. _I won't tell her everything, of course. I just need to make her think there isn't more to what I say._ My eyes briefly met Kyou's on the other side of the table, having discussed the very topic before Haruno had appeared.

"You could say that. Haru and I needed a bit of a breather to get away from our aunt and uncle for a while, and Finland was the best choice, given that this is where Hideki lived." I replied, skirting around the full truth as much as I could. _I'm not as good with words as Haru is, but I should be able to do this much._

"Your aunt and uncle? Did something happen between you and them?" I glanced at Kyou again, who was quietly observing our conversation. _I hope she picks up on what I'm doing. Yukinoshita Haruno is the last person I want to know about our plans._

"Oh, well, you know how mine and Haru's parents… _died_ , so… There's been some squabbling with inheritance and stuff ever since. Just a bit of a pain, that's all." Tomoya looked a little confused as his gaze shifted between me and Kyou, obviously not having been here when Haru and I had told that we don't really get along with Haruno due to her _inquisitive_ nature, while Haruno narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, and looked as if she were scrutinizing everything I had said to her. _I tried to make it sound as disinteresting as possible, but with the way Yukinoshita Haruno is, it might just make her think that there is something to more to my story._

"I see." Haruno's reply was quick, almost curt, in a way, as she returned her attention to her milkshake. "It is at times like that when you truly get to see what people are like. Who is greedy and who is not. Though, I believe everyone is greedy, to some extent." Another mysterious answer delivered with an equally mysterious smile. _What exactly is she playing at, here..?_

"Sora." A voice coming from behind alerted me, and I turned around to see my brother approaching us. Before I could say anything back to Haru, I hesitated, suddenly seeing the look on his face. _Haru..? I've… I've never seen him so serious… Apart from…_ Memories of the time when Haru was last contacted by our aunt and uncle resurfaced, alongside the more or less _unpleasant_ memories of everything that happened after that, before we left on this vacation together. Something churned in my stomach as a feeling of discomfort rose to my chest.

"Haru… What did Hideki tell you..?" Haru's grip on his phone tightened, and his gaze shifted from me first to Kyou, then to Tomoya.

"It's… Well, it's something we need to talk about, preferably _now_. Tomoya-san and Kyou-san… It's probably best if you come as well."

* * *

 **AN: And we're done. Some unexpected things happened, which caused this chapter to come out later than I had intended. Full Sora POV this time, though I had initially planned to have this chapter be longer, with Haruka's phone call with Hideki and its aftermath at the end as well, but I feared that it would have pushed the chapter to be quite long, and I didn't want to delay this any further. But, with the holidays around the corner, and with a somewhat solid plan for what's next to come, I should be able to have the next chapter out sooner. Once again, though, I make no promises regarding that. It all depends on how long I spend on _Checkmate's_ next chapter.**

 **Until the next chapter, cheerio, and happy holidays!**

 **[1]: The _Koseki_ is the term for a family registry in Japan. Any changes to one's family, such as births, deaths, marriages, divorces, adoptions etc. are required by law to be recorded into a _koseki_ by each Japanese household by reporting such things to local authorities, who then compile all the records together to form a nation-wide system. The _koseki_ combines together the systems of birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses and the census that most western countries have, but instead of being based on each individual, they are based on a family. So, if a person is born, they don't get their own special place in the _koseki_ , rather they get added to the _koseki_ of the family they are born into. Or, if you marry someone, your name will be moved from your family's _koseki_ into your partner's family's _koseki_ , same if you are adopted.**


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Hello everyone, and happy 2020! Heh, it's kind of funny how I'm writing this AN in 2019, but the one at the bottom I will have written in 2020. And while we're on the topic, I should probably apologize for the lateness of this chapter – the last one was published last decade! Sorry for not being sorry about making such a bad and obvious joke.**

 **2019 was an interesting year for me, to say the least. It was also the year when I really took up writing as a proper hobby, and I'm glad to say I won't be looking back on the decision to allocate more time to it any time soon. Writing continues to bring me joy time and time again, even if I sometimes have a few difficulties and delays, but those are unfortunately unavoidable. Here's hoping I'll be able to improve more in 2020!**

 **Now, let's start off the new decade with a new chapter, shall we?**

* * *

 **Chapter 19 – Stress and Relief**

"So, what happened, Haruka? You look quite… _grim_." Tomoya asked from me while crossing his arms, and I looked past him towards our table in the distance, where Haruno was seemingly talking to Ushio. _She shouldn't be able to hear us from this distance, if we keep our voices on the lower side._ I shifted my gaze to Sora, who was looking back at me intently with an expression of worry, her hands balled up to fists at her side. _Sora knows me as well as I know myself, so it should be easy for her to deduce what I'm about to tell them._

"I'll try to be brief, since Haruno-san is waiting for us." I replied to Tomoya in a low tone, glancing at Haruno in the distance again briefly. _Seems like we should be safe._ "Hideki just gave me a call, but it wasn't just to exchange pleasantries. It seems… our aunt and uncle have made their move." Kyou's eyes widened, while Sora's hands clasped onto the hem of her skirt, visibly tensing up. "They contacted Hideki earlier today, and asked him about Sora and I."

"What did he tell them? And… why not contact you directly?" Tomoya asked from me.

"Hideki asked the same question from them. Apparently, while they knew Sora and I had left Japan for the summer, they only found out about Hideki's involvement after going to check on our house in Okukozome. Supposedly, our uncle tried to contact me then, but when it didn't go through, he now called Hideki instead."I paused briefly, and all three of the people in front of me seemed to brace themselves for my next words, Sora especially. "At first, our uncle asked him questions you could expect. Where we were staying, when we planned to return, and so forth, all questions they could have asked straight from us. But… He also told Hideki to stop associating with Sora and I, to stop _helping_ us, telling him to stop interfering with _family matters_. Then, uncle asked Hideki to relay a message to the two us." My gaze met Sora's, and I bit my lip as I hesitated before continuing. "They… They're going to cancel our tuition fee for school if we don't return to Japan within a week." Sora raised an eyebrow at me in confusion, before the realization of what I had just said hit her as her eyes widened in surprise.

"But that means…" Sora began, but trailed off, leaving me to finish her sentence.

"...We wouldn't be able to go back to study in Okukozome even if we wanted to, unless we coughed up enough money for the fee. Money, that we simply don't have, and they know it." Sora's gaze fell to the floor as she clearly thought about the situation.

"That's… horrible!" Kyou exclaimed, a little loudly. "Wouldn't it… already be paid for this year, though? Can they just cancel it mid-semester like that?" She then asked from me.

"I don't know, but given their position as our legal guardians, it's very possible. However, cancelling our tuition is not the biggest issue, it's what they're going to do afterwards." I replied and looked towards Sora again. "They know we have little to no money left, so paying for the tuition or buying materials for independent studying will be impossible. And since neither of them would want to pay for the fees of two students..."

"...They would send you to different high schools, justifying their decision to separate you two in some twisted way." Tomoya followed up and let out a sigh. "Was that all your uncle said to Hideki-san?" I nodded in reply to Tomoya's question.

"Hideki told me our uncle was quite… _brusque_ towards him during the phone call, and made it very clear he wasn't pleased with Hideki's involvement, but other than demanding him to stop helping us and telling him to pass along the message, he said nothing else." Sora was still clinging onto the hem of her skirt, her hands slightly trembling now. Whether it was from anger or fear, I couldn't tell, but I suspected the former.

"Seriously, what is their deal..? I'm guessing they won't be open to much negotiating then, huh?" I shook my head at Kyou, then reached out to take a hold of Sora's hand. As she lifted her gaze to meet mine, I smiled at her reassuringly, and my sister returned the smile. _We'll be fine. We can get through this together. And we have Kyou-san and Tomoya-san on our side as well._

"I doubt they will, but if we tell them we're planning on having you two become our legal guardians, they will have to listen." I said to Kyou and Tomoya, then glanced at Haruno in the distance. "This is something we definitely need to talk about more, but not right now. We… shouldn't make Haruno-san wait any longer." Tomoya followed my gaze to where Haruno was sitting, silently watching for a few moments as she now fiddled with her phone while continuing to have a rather one-sided conversation with Ushio, who awkwardly sat in her seat waiting for us to return.

"Right. We'll… continue back at the hotel, then?" Tomoya said and glanced at the rest of us, and I gave him a nod in reply, feeling Sora's hold on my hand tightening ever so slightly.

"Sounds good to me." I glanced at Sora, who nodded as well, then shifted my gaze to Kyou. "Kyou-san… You could bring your husband up to speed about what we discussed before as well. Now that we know what our relatives are planning, we can continue with our plans as well." Kyou looked back at me with a smile, then nodded.

"Yes, I'll do that. We might need to figure something out with Ushio, as she will definitely get bored just listening to us. But, that's something we can think about later." Kyou said, her gentle smile spreading onto my face as well. _We were really lucky to get the support of Kyou-san and Tomoya-san._ _I really hope they'll be able to accept mine and Sora's relationship, when we eventually come clean about it to them._

Having finished our conversation for now, the four of us made our way back to our table, where Ushio and Yukinoshita Haruno were waiting for us. Ushio perked up upon seeing her parents return, while Haruno kept fiddling with her phone until we were right by her, seemingly sending a message to someone, if I had to guess based on how fast her fingers were moving. _That's right, Haruno-san came here to keep an eye on her younger sister… Reporting back to their mother, perhaps?_

"Ah, you're back." Haruno said once she noticed us and quickly placed her phone back into her handbag, her eyes very briefly flicking to mine and Sora's hands, still interlocked. "You looked quite glum before, Haru. Something bad happen with Hideki-san?" Haruno tilted her head as she asked the relatively innocent question. _While she has been acting quite normally now, she does like to stick her nose into things that don't concern her, and has shown to take interest in Sora and I, so I'm not buying the innocence of that question._

"You… could say that, I guess. It's nothing you need to worry yourself over, Haruno-san. Just that some things have come up, and I needed to inform the Okazakis as well." I replied to her, lifting my free hand to rub the back of my neck.

"Hmmm..? You're only going to make me more curious by saying that, Haru." Haruno said with a smile, leaning forwards and resting her head on the palm of her hand, steadily keeping eye contact with me. "You know, I usually reserve my help for my cute little sister and Hikigaya-kun, but I could make an exception with that for you two. If you need help or advice with anything, you can turn to your friendly onee-chan." Knowing what lies past Yukinoshita Haruno's smile, I couldn't help but think there was something more to her offer than meets the eye. _From the image I've gotten of her, she isn't like Hideki, Tomoya-san or Kyou-san when it comes to helping others, so I doubt she'd offer to help just out of the goodness of her heart, and would ask for something in return. Then again, she did say that Yukinoshita-san and Hikigaya owe more to her than they think, so could she be helping them somehow, in some way they don't even realize? Though, that might have simply been more manipulation from her… Yukinoshita Haruno truly is on a whole other level of mysteriousness…_

"Thank you for the offer, Haruno-san. We'll keep it in mind, but I think we'll do fine for now." I replied politely, then shifted my gaze to Tomoya and Kyou, who were gathering up their trash on the other side of the table. "Anyway, should we head out now? Did you have anything planned other than lunch?"

"Oh, not really, no." Tomoya replied and glanced at his wife, then moved his gaze to Haruno. "Now that Haruno-san is with us, though, maybe we could go somewhere? I don't really know, we've already gone through most of everything here." Tomoya scratched his cheek with one hand and picked up the three trays that Kyou had just piled up with the other. _That is true, there's not much of the city left_ _where we haven't been already._

"Hmm… There are a few places where I've yet to visit, but I don't really mind where we go." Haruno said with a thoughtful look on her face, while Tomoya urged her to continue with his expression. "I heard Yukino-chan praising the science centre here, so I'm a little curious about it, so maybe that would be a good start?" Haruno's gaze scanned over each of us, looking for approval.

"The science centre… Is that the one you two visited on your first Sunday, Sora, Haruka?" Tomoya asked from us, and I nodded to him in reply.

"Yes, Sora and I visited it together with Hikigaya and Yukinoshita-san." I replied, then glanced at Haruno. "The younger one, of course. I think it was called _Pilke_. We had some fun there, to say the least." I then continued with a smile. _I kind of want to tell Tomoya-san about the hunting game, but I think I'll let him discover it on his own. I wonder,_ _before we all return home, maybe I could have a rematch with Hikigaya? I want to beat his high score._

"I guess that's fine, then." Tomoya said and looked to his wife, who nodded to him with a smile, then turned to Ushio.

"How about it, Ushio? Do you want to go see the science centre?" The young girl thought for a few moments, then enthusiastically nodded to Kyou, the sight bringing a slight smile to my face, and I saw a small smile forming on Sora's face as well.

"Splendid!" Yukinoshita Haruno said as she stood up and gathered her things, lifting up her tray after somewhat carelessly placing all of her trash onto it. "Isn't it kind of far away, though? Will Sora be alright?" The sudden concern that Haruno showed us caught me off-guard, and I was instantly suspicious of it. _Why would she even care? Well… Her sister doesn't have the greatest stamina either, f_ _ro_ _m what I know, but… Haah, maybe I should stop being so suspicious of everything she does, but I can't help myself. I've never been like this with other people, but then again, I've never met_ _any_ _one like Yukinoshita Haruno._

"As long as we don't take the _scenic route_ like last time, I'll be alright." Sora replied to Haruno, who grinned a little in return, no doubt catching the meaning behind Sora's words. _Yukinoshita-san also has a bad sense of direction, but I know Sora didn't mean that in a negative light._ _Whether Haruno-san interprets it that way, however, is anyone's guess._

"Well, that's our plan, then." Kyou said and smiled at Sora. "Shall we get going?" After giving her nods of approval, the six of us went to take our trash to its designated place at the edge of the restaurant, then exited out of the shopping centre.

Currently being at the central square of the city named after a famous Finnish heavy metal band, we had quite a ways to go to the science centre. Although, my perception of the distance between the two places is a little skewed, due to the " _scenic route_ " _–_ as Sora had described it – we took there on our last visit with Hikigaya and Yukinoshita. Still, the science centre wasn't exactly in the centre of town, and while the most direct route to it was largely a straight road, I had no doubts it would take its toll on Sora – especially given that said road was uphill. And this time, I hadn't even taken a water bottle with me.

As we walked along the pedestrian zone we had become accustomed to during our time here, a slight feeling of worry for my sister welled up inside of me. I turned to look at Sora and was met with a face that conveyed an equal – if not greater – amount of worry back to me. Seeing my sister with such an expression only increased how worried I felt about her, and I could only silently observe her for a few moments before I had to voice my concern.

"Sora? What's wrong?" Sora turned to look up at me, then briefly glanced to the front, where Haruno was animatedly talking with Kyou and Tomoya a little ways away from us.

"It's… well… I'm just worried about this whole deal with our aunt and uncle." Sora replied to me quietly. "I know we have a plan with Kyou-san and Tomoya-san, but I can't help but have this nagging feeling of dread. What if they _don't_ listen to us? What if they just cancel our tuition fees and send us off to different schools anyway, even if we return home in time with Kyou-san and Tomoya-san? If uncle was so… _hostile_ about Hideki helping us, how will they react to Tomoya-san and Kyou-san?" Sora listed out her worries and bit her lip as she gazed downwards, her walking speed slowing down slightly.

"We can talk about it all more with Kyou-san and Tomoya-san when we get back to the hotel, Sora." I took a hold of Sora's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, briefly glancing at the other three with us, still in the middle of conversation. "To be honest with you, I'm nervous as well. I'm the optimist out of the two of us, but even I worry about everything you just said and more. But, we can make it through this together. If aunt and uncle don't want to be nice to us, we don't have to be nice to them either. We'll just have to make it clear to them that we're not going to go along with everything they say quietly." Sora gazed back at me with her grey eyes, and I stopped myself before I leaned in and kissed her on the spot.

"I guess you're right, Haru. Sorry, I don't want to be gloomy and make everyone else worry." Sora said and glanced forwards again, before looking back at me with a smile. "I didn't plan on being nice to our relatives in the first place, and you can be sure I'll fight them tooth and nail if they want to separate us." Seeing the look of determination on Sora's face, I smiled and reached out with my free hand to stroke her head, causing Sora's own smile to widen.

"And you can count on me being there with you against them. Let's not give up, for our future together." In reply, Sora nodded to me and tightened her grip on my hand. _This is a fight we are not planning on losing._

"Yes, for _our future_." Sora and I stared into each other's eyes for multiple seconds, and once again I had to resist the urge to capture my sister's lips with my own, and I had no doubts that Sora was doing the same. _It hurts both of us, having to hold back like this, but we have no other choice in this unfair world._ _At least there are those in this world who accept and support us._

Once we realized that we had stopped walking, we quickly caught up with the others and continued towards the science centre together. And with Sora's mood having improved, we were able to join in on the conversation Kyou and Tomoya were having with Haruno. While Haruno did clearly seem curious about mine and Sora's still-interlocked hands, it didn't seem like she had heard what we had talked about, though she could have easily been just acting that way. She had behaved so far, but I wasn't about to let my guard down. Still, even if she had heard us and questioned us about it, I wouldn't let it interfere with us having fun today.

It took us about fifteen minutes or so until we arrived at the science centre. We could have probably easily made it there sooner, but we took the walk slow to not tire out Sora – or Ushio, who did get a piggyback ride from her father on the last leg of our walk. While my sister did put up a strong front and insisted on us not worrying about her, it was clear to all of us that all of the walking was taking its toll on her. None of us were in any hurry, though, so we didn't mind taking our time and enjoying the walk there. All of us – with the exception of Haruno, as she was a new arrival – had already seen plenty of Rovaniemi already, but at least I didn't feel like I would ever get bored of it. Having lived my entire life in Japan, the western architecture was new and fresh, and the city felt much more _open_ than any city back home. Here there were no imposing skyscrapers looming over us, no seas of people and cars around every corner, and no cramped-together buildings and alleyways. The pedestrian walkways were plentiful, and one could see trees, bushes and other general greenery nearly anywhere you looked, not to even mention the beautiful view of the river that we were subjected to while making our way to the science centre. It was currently the height of summer, so a few small boats could be spotted on the river, one of the larger ones looking like it was a restaurant of sorts, but I could almost imagine what it would be like to visit the "Capital of the North" in the winter, when everything would be covered in a white sheen. The river that ran through the city was massive, but it wasn't rapid, so I figured it must freeze over during winter, and I found myself wondering what it would be like to cross it by foot.

In short, during our time here, I had grown fond of the city, and knew I would miss it when we returned to Japan.

"Haru." As I gazed at the somewhat distant river just outside the science centre, my sister's voice suddenly brought me out of my musings, and I turned towards her voice to see her, Tomoya, Kyou and Haruno all looking at me, seemingly waiting for me. "I'm going to leave you there if you keep standing still."

"Ah, sorry. I was just admiring the view." I replied and walked over to the others by the door. "We should come back here in winter sometime, Sora." I said to my sister as we entered the large wooden building, making our way to buy tickets like last time.

"Where did that come from all of a sudden?" Sora questioned me with a raised eyebrow while Haruno bought our tickets, having offered to pay mine and Sora's tickets for us. _It really does make me feel bad to take advantage of everyone's kindness so much… Then again, I get the feeling Haruno-san isn't doing this purely out of kindness. She must have some sort of ulterior motive._

"I just thought how pretty this city was, and wondered what it would look like in the winter." I replied to Sora. "Seeing the northern lights in person would also be something worth experiencing. Right, Sora?"

"Hmmm… I guess… But doesn't it get really cold here in the winter? I'd rather want to see the 'midnight sun' during summer solstice that Mikami-san told us about the other week in Arktikum." Sora said with a slightly thoughtful look on her face. _I'm a little surprised she remembered that. Well, I doubt she remembers Mikami-san's explanation in full, though._ "Besides… can we even think of anything like that right now? I mean, we're about to go back home soon, and we won't be able to go on a holiday like this any time soon afterwards..." Sora bit her lip as she looked up at me, and I began to affectionately pat her head, while the rest of our group returned to us, having purchased the tickets.

"It was just a thought of mine, so don't worry about it. When we get through this situation with our aunt and uncle and get everything in order, we can think more about it." My sister smiled at me, then gently pushed my hand away, a slight dusting of red on her cheeks.

"Mou, do I not get headpats as well?" Haruno's voice came from our right, and we both turned to face her as she walked up to us. "I feel it would be the least you could do to show your gratitude." Haruno lowered her head expectantly, while I simply looked towards Sora, who now sported an unamused look on her face.

"Sorry, Haruno-san, but those are reserved exclusively for Sora." I replied to the black-haired woman, who pouted at me in return, while my sister allowed a small smile to appear on her face again. "But, we are grateful that you paid for our tickets, when our money situation is so tight at the moment. _Arigatou_ , Haruno-san." I bowed a little to Haruno, who waved her hand dismissively in return.

"Don't worry about it, Haru. I feel like you two need to have someone show you kindness, what with all you've gone through." Haruno said with a smile. _So… Why did you ask for us to show you gratitude, if you – supposedly – were just doing this out of the goodness of your heart? That's contradictory…_ "So, shall we go?" Haruno then continued, briefly glancing at Tomoya and Kyou, who nodded to her in return. _Well, I guess that's just what she's like. It would be useful to have Hikigaya around, since he can read her so well._

Following Haruno's lead, we made our way down the flight of stairs to the exhibition area. It hadn't changed from our last visit, but there were significantly more people here today, due to the presence of what seemed like a group of schoolchildren and their teacher. The group was situated near the centre of the open exhibition area, and alongside the teacher, I could spot a woman who was undoubtedly an employee of the science centre (based on her clothing) talking to the group. _Are they on a field trip? I think there is a school here somewhere nearby… I'm kind of jealous, there's not really any places like this near the school in Okukozome that would be suitable for an educational field trip._ A few of the children turned to look towards us as we descended down, with Ushio sending some curious glances of her own back at them, though she did so carefully and avoided any eye contact with the older children. While Japanese tourists were no doubt a curious sight for many of the children, they quickly lost interest in us and returned their attention back to the front, where now the person I presumed was their teacher had begun talking.

"Right, so… This place is all about trees and wood, right?" Tomoya said once we reached the bottom of the stairs, scanning through the brochure in his hands. "What can we do here, exactly?" Tomoya looked around briefly, his gaze finally landing on me, clearly asking the question from Sora and I, as we had been here before.

"Well… There are a bunch of educational activities, but… I think there's one you might like, Tomoya-san." I replied and moved to the other side of the stairs, pointing towards the hunting game Hikigaya and I played quite a lot during our last visit.

"Is that… a shooting game? Like in arcades?" Tomoya cocked his head as he looked at the two toy rifles sitting in their holders, the screen visible on the back wall just past them.

"Pretty much, yeah. Hikigaya and I played it when we were here."

"For real? How do you play it?" Tomoya's excitement was clear in his voice as he walked over to the stand and began to examine the rifles. _Looks like I hit the nail on the head with my guess._ I thought and chuckled to myself, hearing Kyou sighing behind me.

"It's pretty easy. You shoot the animals that appear on the screen, gaining score based on how quickly and how accurately you hit them. Different animals also give differing amounts of points." I explained as I walked over to Tomoya, who had picked up one of the guns with an excited glint in his eyes, like a kid in a candy shop.

"You want to have a go at seeing who can score the highest, Haruka?" Tomoya asked and looked towards me, holding the rifle up with one hand.

"I thought you'd never ask, Tomoya-san." Tomoya grinned at me, and I could almost swear I saw a fire burning in his eyes.

"You're on! It's been a while since I've been to an arcade, but let me tell you, I never once lost to Sunohara back in my high school days! Granted, we didn't have a lot of money to go throwing around on arcades, so we didn't really go to them that often, but all the times we did I always beat him!" Tomoya pumped himself up, and I felt a smile growing on my face at the scene. _Tomoya-san is such a cool guy. Ushio is lucky to have a father like him._

As I picked up the second rifle, I glanced towards the girls in our group and offered an apologetic smile to them. Sora simply smiled back at me, while Kyou shook her head and let out another sigh. Ushio was holding onto Kyou's hand, but her curious gaze was directed at her father, her small mouth slightly ajar as she looked at him getting a feel for holding the rifle properly. As my gaze finally met Haruno's, I paused for a moment as the rose-coloured eyes of the older woman stared back at me, a slight glint of curiosity in them and her usual plastered-on smile on her face. _She has to be planning something…_ Not letting my gaze linger on her for too long, I turned back to Tomoya, then looked over to the screen in the distance. _Well, whatever. I'm not here to worry about Haruno-san._

As Tomoya and I started the game, my prior experience with it and Tomoya's _lack_ of experience became clear soon enough. Our first round, which we agreed to be a practice round for Tomoya, resulted in my win, as I managed to gather nearly twice as many points as Tomoya had. Tomoya didn't let the loss get to him, though, as the next round demonstrated just how quickly he had mastered the game. Our scores were neck and neck the entire time, but I just about managed to get enough points to overtake him at the end by felling a moose with a well-placed shot. By our third round, I could feel multiple gazes on my back, no doubt coming from the group of children in here with us. Tomoya didn't seem to mind having an audience, as he triumphantly managed to win the round with quite a significant point lead. With both of us having one win, the fourth and last round would decide who would be the winner – and neither of us was going to go easy on the other.

As the number of our curious spectators increased, I put all of my focus on the game. Tomoya had proven to be a formidable opponent, probably even besting Hikigaya, and I knew not to underestimate him after the previous two rounds. Not a single animal was spared as we both took shots, our scores rising steadily. If one of us got ahead, the other quickly caught up, keeping both our scores close. But, no matter how evenly matched we were, one of us had to come out on top.

"Haah..." I let out a sigh and felt a bead of sweat rolling down my cheek as I lowered the rifle I was holding, a sudden feeling of exhaustion washing over me after the tense couple of minutes of mine and Tomoya's last round. _By the end, both of us were just shooting as much and as quickly as possible, so we didn't pay attention to our scores, but…_

"...Congratulations, Haruka." Tomoya said as he wiped his forehead. "Looks like your prior experience came through in the end." I looked at Tomoya, then shifted my gaze to the large screen against the wall, where both of our scores were displayed. Our total score was higher than what Hikigaya and I had managed to get last time, and I had scored just a little more than Tomoya had. _Looks like I beat Hikigaya's high score…_

"Thanks, Tomoya-san." I replied and placed the rifle back into its holder. "You were pretty good as well, for a first-timer." Tomoya placed his own rifle back as well.

"It wasn't that difficult, as you said, so I got the hang of it easily. It was a little different from what I'm used to back home, but I had good fun." Tomoya said to me with a smile, and I returned the gesture to him.

"Tomoya!" Kyou's voice alerted both of us, and we looked in the direction of the voice to see her making her way to us past the group of schoolchildren with Ushio in tow, though I couldn't see Sora or Haruno anywhere.

"Hm? What is it, Kyou?" Tomoya asked from his wife as she and Ushio walked up to us.

"Could you take Ushio for a while? I'm sure she'd like to spend some time with her father." Kyou said and patted Ushio on the head, a small blush appearing on the young girl's face.

"I don't mind but… You had fun earlier with papa, didn't you? You wouldn't want to spend all day with your boring old father, would you?" Tomoya knelt down to look Ushio in the eyes, who looked back at her father with a conflicted expression.

"I… I get to play with mama lots back home, so I want to be with papa." Ushio said to her father. _Right, Kyou-san is also Ushio's kindergarten teacher… Heh, I guess she has an excuse if she ever accidentally calls Kyou-san 'okaa-san' while there..._ "A-and… you're not boring, papa!" She then continued, her small hands balling up into fists as she stared at her father, her expression now determined.

"There you have it, Tomoya." Kyou said and patted Ushio on the head again, then knelt down to be eye-level with her as well. "I'll be over at the souvenir shop with Sora-onee-chan and Haruno-onee-chan, so be a good girl and take care of papa, okay?" Ushio nodded to Kyou, who then rose back up and began to make her way back towards the stairs again. "Right, I'll be off, then. We'll be up at the shop by the entrance, Haruka."

"Got it, Kyou-san." I replied to the older woman, who smiled back at me in return, before turning away and leaving Tomoya and I with Ushio.

"Haah… Leaving me to babysit while she goes off and has fun, huh?" Tomoya grumbled as Kyou disappeared from our sight, then turned to look at me. "Ah, it's not like I'm complaining. Sorry, Haruka. Kyou just does her own thing stubbornly so often, I can't help myself, but I don't dislike her for it."

"I think I get you. Sora can be stubborn as well sometimes, though I guess I am partly to blame for always going along with her." I said and rubbed the back of my neck. _It's not like I could say no to Sora anyway. I do think she has learned to be a bit less stubborn on this trip, though, which is good._

"Guess we're in similar positions, then. Both stuck under the foot of our woman." Tomoya said with a chuckle, and I froze in place at his choice of words. "Though, I guess that's not _quite_ true in your case, but you get what I mean." I suppressed letting out a sigh of relief as I struggled to maintain my composure. _I know he meant it as a joke, but… That really surprised me._

"Hahaa… I guess you're right..." I replied with a slightly awkward laugh. "I mean, Sora and I are planning on spending our future together, so I'd better prepare myself for that well in advance, right?" I attempted to have my words come out in a jokey manner, but I wasn't sure how well I had managed. _Tomoya-san already knows of plans to stay together, so it should be fine._

"Hah! Those preparations can never go to waste!" Tomoya gave me a hearty pat on the back, then wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "I wish I could have had the chance to prepare before I married Kyou, but unfortunately my time with Nagisa didn't really ready me for someone as feisty as her." Tomoya then continued, but suddenly fell silent, his gaze dropping down to Ushio standing next to him, who was curiously looking at the two of us. _Ah…_ I hadn't intended it, and neither had Tomoya, but the conversation had suddenly taken an awkward turn to Tomoya's late wife Nagisa.

"Papa..?" Ushio's curious expression shifted to one of concern, the atmosphere that now permeated from Tomoya and I beginning to affect her as well. _Ushio has never seen her biological mother, but Tomoya-san must have told her about Nagisa…_

"Sorry, Ushio. It's nothing." Tomoya said and let go of me. With his gaze still directed downwards and his bangs covering his face, I couldn't meet his eyes or see his expression. _Should I… apologize? It wasn't really my fault, but…_ "...I know what you're probably thinking, Haruka." Tomoya suddenly said, then turned to face me, the smile on his face a little melancholic. "I just slipped it out without thinking, so it's not your fault in any way. Nagisa was… very dear to me, but I can't wallow in the negativity resulting from her loss forever. She wouldn't want that." Tomoya looked upwards, and I could almost see a tear forming in the corner of his eye. _Tomoya-san…_ "I have Kyou and Ushio, so I can't worry about the past, and need to focus on what I have now with them, and our future." Listening to Tomoya, a feeling of admiration rose up within my chest. _Just like Sora and I, Tomoya-san has also lost someone close to him, but his wife and daughter have given him the strength to move on. In the same way, Sora and I can support and strengthen each other to get through the hardships we face and arrive at the future we want to build together._ "Right, that's enough of that for now. Let's have some fun while Kyou and Sora aren't here, Haruka, Ushio!" Tomoya pointed upwards and turned to look at me with a grin on his face, any signs of his previous melancholy gone.

With Ushio now with us, we went around the science centre to look for something fun we could do, as the simple knowledge many of the activities provided would not satisfy someone as young as Ushio. Children are curious, but they learn best by playing, at least at Ushio's age.

The hunting game was luckily not the only game the science centre had, and we settled on playing a quiz game with the three of us. Or, rather, it was me against Tomoya and Ushio together. The questions weren't all that difficult – all of them having something to do with trees, forests and whatnot – but translating them from English to Japanese first turned out to be quite tricky. While I was confident in my English skills, the terminology was not always familiar to me, and as it turns out, Tomoya's English skills weren't that great – he had been largely relying on Kyou for translating up until now.

In the end, the quiz resulted in my win, though I couldn't say it was a win I was proud of, given that less than half of my answers had been correct. Still, I felt like I learned a little bit, so it was worth it in the end.

After our quiz, Ushio needed to go to the bathroom, and Tomoya had to accompany his daughter there, leaving me alone. Not really feeling like exploring the place on my own, having already gone through most of the science centre last time, I ended up silently observing the group of schoolchildren now on their own tour of the place after what I presumed was some sort of pre-planned activity for elementary school students on the science centre's behalf. Many of the children sent curious glances back to me, but otherwise paid me no heed as they went around the science centre with glee.

"You know, I sometimes miss being as carefree as children are." A sudden voice from behind startled me, and I quickly turned around to meet the face of Yukinoshita Haruno as she walked up to stand next to me, her gaze focused on the schoolchildren. "You have all sorts of responsibilities as an adult, especially one of my status. Life was certainly a lot easier back when I wasn't aware of everything that went on behind the scenes in both business and politics." Haruno turned to face me, her smile mysterious as always. "Can't say I'm not liking it, though. Plenty of _interesting_ people to meet." I held back the urge to swallow as Haruno's tone of voice lowered and answered her in the most neutral manner possible.

"Haruno-san. Weren't you with Kyou-san and Sora?" I asked, and Haruno lifted up a small bag in reply.

"I was, but I finished with my shopping. I decided to come down here again and found you alone." _I get the feeling she was specifically looking for me._ "Did Tomoya-san ditch you?" Haruno questioned from me with a slight tilt of her head.

"Ushio needed to go to the bathroom, that's all. They'll be back soon enough." I replied, then paused for a moment, debating internally whether or not I should ask her what she wanted with me. _I just can't shake off the feeling that she's up to something…_

"Oh, I see. Hey, how about we have a round or two?" Haruno spoke out before I could speak again, and I looked to see her pointing towards the hunting game Tomoya and I played, where a couple of kids were finishing up. "It looked like fun." Haruno continued as she began to strode towards the game, not even waiting for my answer.

"Well… I guess we could, if you insist." I replied and followed after her. As soon as Haruno came up to the rifles, the two boys who had been playing froze as they looked up at the older Japanese woman picking up one of the rifles and pointing it at me.

"Hehee… So does Hikigaya-kun like this kind of stuff, I wonder..?" Haruno mused out loud, then let out a quiet ' _bang_ ' from her lips, followed by a slight giggle. "Come on then, Haru. I'm dying to have a go at this."

"Alright. How does best of three sound?" I asked as I picked up the other rifle while Haruno _hmmm'd_ thoughtfully next to me.

"Let's just have one round. That'll really show which one of us is better." Haruno said with a smile, and I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Just one round? Not even a practice round first?" Haruno fiddled around with her rifle, getting a good hold of it, then pointed it at the screen, closing one of her eyes as she aimed.

"No need, I'll learn it quickly, I'm sure." Haruno replied to me, sparing but a brief glance in my direction. "Let's go, shall we?" I still found Haruno's request a bit odd, but decided not to dwell on it. _She's the social type, so she must have been to arcades before. If she really thinks she'll get the hang of it without a practice round, she must be confident in her skills._ Briefly glancing at Haruno again, I started the game when it seemed like she wasn't going to say anything more. As I already had quite a bit of experience with the game, I quickly took the lead not long after starting, but Haruno didn't seem too bad herself – she was better than Tomoya had been during our first practice round. "You know, Haru… I've been wondering..." Haruno suddenly said after a little while from starting the game.

"What is it?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the screen, as I suspected Haruno might have been trying to distract me.

"Well, you remember what I said when I bought the tickets for you and Sora? About wanting to show you kindness, given everything you've gone through, what with the death of your parents and all?" Haruno continued, and I sensed something in the tone of her voice, something that made me tense up. _Is this… what I suspected? Is she going to pry me for information..?_

"Yes, I do. What about it?" Sparing a quick glance at Haruno, the smile had disappeared from her face completely, and I swallowed.

"I've had a thought… What if that whole _sob story_ of yours is nothing but one big _lie_? I mean, it's all quite convenient, isn't it? You two act all nice and tell everyone about how you and Sora were separated as children, how first your grandparents and then your own parents died, and now you've come on vacation to get away from some ' _inheritance drama_ ' back home. And then you have your sister's physical weakness to invoke even more sympathy from others. It's all way too convenient to be true, I think. There are some truly kind-hearted fools in this world, who would give everything they have to the first sob story they encounter, and there are just as many people out there who take advantage of the kindness of these people." I froze in place upon hearing Haruno's words. _What… What did she just say..? Mine and Sora's… All a_ lie _?_ "I know you two are hiding something from me, no matter how much you insist otherwise. As you said to me on Sunday, everyone has their secrets, so perhaps that is yours. Perhaps you are taking advantage of the kindness of all these people, spending their money to have fun on your vacation, then return home to some idyllic life, never meeting these kind strangers ever again."

"What… What are you saying, Haruno-san?" I turned to look at Haruno, whose expression was still the same as before, but now at least twice as unreadable. I'm usually not one to get angry, but… The accusations Haruno was making made my blood boil.

"Hm? I'm just voicing my thoughts. Now, if we do assume that everything you've told me and the others is a lie… What's to say your familial relationship is also a lie? Sure, you and Sora do look alike, but… Looks can be easily modified. A bit of hair dye and some contact lenses does the trick quite easily. And, to give a bit more proof for that theory..." Haruno slowly turned to look towards me, locking her eyes with my own.

"...You two act a little _too_ close for siblings."

Before, my blood had been boiling from anger, but now that blood all drained from my face in an instant.

"Your sob story tells to us that you two are just closer than most siblings due to your pasts, but that doesn't quite add up. If the whole story is a lie, it makes more sense if you two were simply _lovers_ , taking advantage of your similar looks to fool others into acts of kindness. And, even if you two were real siblings… Well, that would just make your relationship a little more _interesting_ , would it not?" The smile returned to Haruno's face, this time as eerie as it could be, but I could do nothing but stare back at her, completely speechless. _Obviously, I know that all her accusations are false, but… If she's noticed Sora and I are_ that _close…_ "Oh, but don't worry about all that, Haru. This was just a little theory of mine, so don't let it get to you." Haruno said after a pause, her usual cheerfulness back in her voice. "Ah! Looks like I won, Haru! You should really have paid more attention to the game." Blinking, I looked towards the screen in the distance, where now, our scores were listed. Mine was even lower than Tomoya's on his first try, while Haruno's score easily topped the high score I had in my last round against Tomoya. "I had a lot of fun, though. _Arigatou_ , Haru." Haruno placed her rifle back, then patted me on the shoulder and walked past me. " _I'm looking forwards to having more fun with you in the_ _near_ _future._ " She whispered to me as she passed, and I turned around to see her back facing me, not sparing a single glance back at me.

I simply stood there, completely motionless, as I watched Haruno leave, and only managed to move my body once she had disappeared from sight. _Haah… Was that all just to distract me from the game, or..?_ I looked down at my hand, which was now shaking slightly, and I felt a bead of cold sweat run down my neck. _I already kind of suspected it, but she had been observing us all this time… Sora and I have been careful to restrict our displays of affection to the privacy of our room, but have been not been careful enough around Haruno-san? Or was that just one of her baseless theories?_ I let out a sigh and looked towards the direction where Haruno had disappeared to.

 _Yukinoshita Haruno… She is truly terrifying._

* * *

"I'm… fine, Haru. I'm feeling better, now."

"Are you sure? I feel like this has become more frequent, so I'm worried..." I reached out and held onto my brother's hand to silence him.

"I'll be okay, Haru. We'll just rest today, so I'll be ready for tomorrow." My brother looked at me with disbelief for a few moments, then let out a sigh.

"...If you say so, Sora. We've been having to deal with some stress recently, so I was worried it might make your sudden illness worse, if it wasn't the cause itself." I looked away from Haru and stood up, having been kneeling down by the toilet due to a sudden bout of nausea. _I guess Haru hasn't even considered that my 'sudden illness' may be morning sickness, and thus due to pregnancy… Of course, I don't know that for sure either yet, but it's a good guess._

"Well, who knows. While I am _worried_ myself, I wouldn't say I'm stressed about anything." I wrapped my arms around Haru and hugged onto him, resting my head on his shoulder. "You're always reassuring me and saying how we'll be fine, so I guess I just have to believe you." Haru smiled at me, then wrapped his arms around me as well, planting a kiss on my forehead, spreading a pleasant warmth throughout me. _However… I know what my brother is like. On the inside, he's likely stressing about everything even more than I am, especially_ _when it comes to_ _me. But that's just what I love about him._ _Still… I can't_ _say that we have_ no _stress at the moment,_ _not after everything we talked about yesterday._

After our trip to the science centre yesterday with Tomoya, Kyou and Yukinoshita Haruno, Haru and I returned to the hotel with the Okazakis. After leaving Ushio in the care of Hikigaya, Yumiko and Yukino, the four of us did as we had planned and talked about what to do with our aunt and uncle in the privacy of mine and Haru's room. We speculated about and planned for what would happen after we told our relatives of our plans with the Okazakis, eventually coming to two conclusions: Either they would accept without any resistance, or they would take the issue to court and fight till the last breath. Out of the two options, based on what we knew, the first outcome seemed the most likely one, and even Hideki – who we called for some help – agreed on that. Our aunt and uncle didn't really care for us, as evidenced by their plans of forcefully separating us, so it was likely that if they were given the chance to "get rid of us", to put it bluntly, they would gladly take it. This alleviated some of mine and Haru's worries, but of course, we couldn't be completely sure that would be the case, so, just in case, we also prepared as much as we could for a serious court case. Luckily for us, we had a lawyer close by willing to help.

Based on the information he was given, Mikami speculated that our best chances in the family court would be to plead to the judge about our relatives' incompetence in raising children, and provide evidence to prove that they didn't have _our_ best interests in mind. People under the age of 20 are by all legal accounts still children, and thus under the supervision of their parents or other legal guardians, but at the same time, those legal guardians have the responsibility to provide for those under their wing and make sure they lead good lives. Because Haru and I are old enough to think and make choices for ourselves, the judge would also have to listen to our wishes regarding the situation, which would in turn give us a good chance to plead our case.

By the end, Kyou had wanted us to contact our aunt and uncle immediately, so we could save going through the trouble of having to tell them of our plans when we returned. It was clear to all of us, though, that she also wanted to vent some of her frustration about how they had acted towards us, and while I would have loved to see it, I felt that it would be better to experience it in person. I didn't voice my thoughts out loud, though. While Haru was initially against the idea, he was eventually persuaded to call our uncle.

He didn't answer.

Tomoya guessed it might have been due to the 7-hour difference between the timezones, but given that even now – a day after the call – there was no reaction, no message or attempt at a call back, we figured he either didn't care enough to answer, or wasn't able to.

While our attempt to contact our relatives yielded no results, the same cannot be said for our meeting overall. We now knew what we would do moving forward, and it relieved a lot of our stress. Mikami also promised us that he would help if needed, and would be more than happy to be our lawyer, if we so requested. However, not _all_ of our stress was simply gone, as evidenced by what Haru told me after everyone had left. More specifically, what Haru told me about a certain someone.

Yukinoshita Haruno.

Yukino's older sister had been nothing but a thorn in our side ever since she arrived, and after hearing what she had accused me and Haru of, I was just about ready to punch her in the face. While Haru didn't think that she was serious with what she had said, just the fact that she had even _thought_ of downplaying everything Haru and I had gone through as just a lie to get others to be kind to us enraged me. She could _never_ know what it feels like to lose nearly everything. And it's not like we are actively trying to make others feel sympathetic towards us. We started this vacation fully expecting to not interact with other people at all, and just ended up in Harri's group due to unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances. Haruno had no right to make such baseless accusations from her position, having lived her life in luxury.

However, as Haru pointed out, Haruno's false accusations were the least of of concerns.

" _You two act a little too close for siblings..."_

The words Haru that told me the elder Yukinoshita had said echoed in my mind. What she had implicated with her words was clear, even when I wasn't the one to hear them directly from her mouth. _So, she's even_ more _suspicious of us now, I guess… Hmph, since when did_ she _get to decide how close siblings should be? With her own relationship with Yukino-san, does she even_ know _how close siblings can be? I mean, obviously Haru and I are closer than regular siblings, but… Argh, she pisses me off so much._ Haru and I were still locked in an embrace, and without realizing, I had tightened my grip on my brother's torso.

"Sora? What's wrong?" Haru asked as he pulled away from me slightly to look me in the eyes, his face full of concern again.

"Haah… It's nothing." I said and let go of my brother, my mood having soured thanks to a certain nosy woman invading my thoughts. "I was just thinking of the whole thing with Haruno-san. Do you think Yukino-san would give me permission to give her a good slap?"

"That again, Sora?" Haru said with a small sigh. "I understand your frustration. I was angry when she accused of being liars yesterday as well, and I have no doubt that Yukinoshita-san would be more than happy to have someone give her older sister a slap across the face, but we shouldn't provoke her." I heard Haru say as I exited the bathroom.

"Yeah yeah, I get you. We need to be more careful around her and all that." I said as I walked up to our bed, hearing Haru close the bathroom door behind him. "Doesn't mean we can't be angry at her for what she said, though."

"Of course, Sora. We have every right to be angry at her baseless accusations – and believe me, I am." Haru replied as I sat down on the foot of the bed, and my brother sat down next to me. _Haru has never been one for open violence,_ _let alone openly showing aggression, except that one time when…_ I stopped myself before I recalled the events of that dreadful day any further, shaking my head slightly as my brother looked at me with a questioning look on his face. _That is something we can leave behind us. No need to dwell on the negativity._ Suddenly, as Haru was about to say something else, a light knock on our door interrupted him.

"I'll go answer it, Haru." I said and stood up, pausing to look back at my brother briefly. "I'm fine, really. The nauseousness is gone." Haru hesitated for a moment, but then nodded, and I walked up to the door. _I don't think it's Harri, he already visited earlier today to tell us about tomorrow's plans, so…_ As I opened the door, I was met with the raven-black hair and light blue eyes of Yukinoshita Yukino as she stood in front of me awkwardly.

"Ah, Sora-san. _Kon'nichiwa_." Yukino greeted me with a small bow, and I internally let out a sigh of relief that our sudden visitor was not her older sister.

" _Kon'nichiwa_ , Yukino-san. Was there something you needed?" I asked, and the older girl averted her gaze from mine. _She's being a bit awkward… Has something happened, or..?_

"I… wanted to meet with you and you brother. Are you free right now?" Yukino met my gaze again, and I tensed up slightly as I realized there was only one thing Yukino could have wanted to talk to us about. _Usually, Hikigaya-san would be the one to come get us, as he's bossed around by the two girls, but now Yukino-san is her_ _e_ _herself… I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing…_

"...Yes, we are free." I replied, then glanced over my shoulder at Haru, who was curiously peeking in our direction. "Do you… want to come inside?" After a moment of thought, Yukino shook her head at me.

"We can talk in our room, if you don't mind. Hikigaya-kun and Miura-san will be there as well." Yukino said and gestured down the hallway, towards where I knew their room was.

"Okay, we can do that." I replied to Yukino, who flashed me a small smile, and I returned the gesture before turning back inside and looking at my brother. "Haru, Yukino-san wants to talk to us." Haru raised an eyebrow in question, but quickly seemed to realize what I had already realized. _She's come to a conclusion._ Haru nodded to me and stood up, making his way to the door.

" _Kon'nichawa_ , Kasugano-kun." Yukino greeted my brother as he appeared behind me. "It is as Sora-san said, so if you don't mind..." Yukino gestured down the hallway again, and my brother nodded to her in reply.

"Alright. I am a little worried, since Sora was feeling sickly not long ago, but..." For a moment, Yukino's eyes flashed with concern, and she met my gaze with her own as my brother trailed off.

"I'm fine, Yukino-san. I just felt a bit nauseous, that's all." I said to the black-haired girl with a smile, and she seemed to relax. _It's good to know she's concerned for me._ _We have hope._

"You shouldn't push yourself too much, Sora-san. I… do it often myself, so I know what it feels like to go over one's limits." Yukino admitted, a slight dusting of red appearing on her cheeks, but she quickly composed herself again. "Right, let's go, then." Haru and I nodded to Yukino, who began to walk down the hallway, and after locking the door to our room, Haru and I followed.

" _Is this… what I think it is?_ " Haru whispered to me as we walked behind Yukino.

" _I'm fairly sure it is, Haru._ " I whispered back, glanced at my brother, then took hold of his hand. _We just have to have faith in Yukino-san, and hope for the best._

Our quiet walk to Yukino's, Yumiko's and Hikigaya's room felt like it took an eternity, each step we took echoing endlessly in the silent hallway of the hotel's third floor. The closer we got, the anxiousness inside of me grew, but I beat it back down time and time again. I've spent my whole life always being negative, never caring for people other than Haru, but I know I can't continue on like that forever, even if I wanted to. I've already changed, having met new people who I _do_ actually care about, and don't want to lose, so how difficult is it to change just a little bit more? _Haru is always positive about everything, being the optimist out of the two of us. But I can't rely on my brother for everything. I know he has times when he just cannot be optimistic, and when that happens, I need to be there for him, just like he's always been there for me. That's why…_

 _I need to have hope. I need to have faith in Yukino-san._

When we arrived at her room, Yukino glanced around, as if seeing if anyone else was around to see us, then shifted her gaze to Haru and I. She met both mine and my brother's eyes, but didn't even spare a glance at our interlocked hands, then turned to open the door.

"Please, come in." Yukino said and gestured for us to enter. I felt my breath getting caught in my throat, but I forced myself to calm down.

"Pardon the intrusion." Haru said quietly as we stepped inside the room, with Yukino following behind us, making sure the door was locked.

The room hadn't changed from when we had visited it last week, though everything was a little neater, likely because Yukino's, Yumiko's and Hikigaya's vacation was coming to an end, so they had tidied up their hotel room. Hikigaya was lying down on one of the beds with his eyes closed, while Yumiko was sitting on the foot of the same bed, fiddling with

her phone.

"Ah! Hey, Sora, Haru." Yumiko was the first to react to our presence, and she quickly put her phone away and smiled at us.

"Hello, Yumiko-san." My brother greeted Yumiko, while Hikigaya rose to a sitting position on his bed and stretched.

"Yo." Hikigaya's deatbeat voice came out a little hoarse, and he cleared his throat immediately afterwards. _Could he be ill? He doesn't look any worse than normal._

" _Ahem_. Let's not waste any time." Yukino walked past us over to another one of the beds, where I could spot the lynx plushie I had bought for her, the sight of it bringing a small smile to my face. "I don't think I need to remind you of what we discussed last Thursday, and you can probably guess that is what I wanted to talk to you about." I couldn't help but tense up at Yukino's words, despite my best efforts. The atmosphere was nowhere near as gloomy as it had been a week ago, but I was still nervous, and gripped Haru's hand a little tighter. "First of all… I want to apologize to both of you again." Yukino bowed to us deeply, and for a moment, I feared the worst, but her next words reassured me. "I treated you both horribly, all because I blindly believed that what you two were doing was _wrong_. However, I realized that I was in error, and had gone against my own principles by taking everything at face value, without thinking for myself." Yukino raised her head and looked towards Hikigaya and Yumiko. "What we have together could be seen as ' _wrong_ ' by a lot of people, but we don't care what they think of us, so it was wrong of me to judge you two so harshly. Once again, I'm sorry." Yukino bowed to us again fervently, then silently lifted her head back up, looking at me and Haru expectantly.

"We… accept your apology, I guess..?" Haru said to break the silence and rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced between Yukino and I. "So… what _conclusion_ did you come to?" Yukino took a deep breath, as if she had been expecting the question, and I found myself swallowing as I awaited her answer.

"This past week, I've been observing you two, as well as talking with Hikigaya-kun and Miura-san. However, my… _conclusion_ , as you put it, is all my own." Yukino paused for a moment, bit her lip and glanced at Hikigaya, who I saw giving her an encouraging nod. "I… already knew your position was similar to ours, and so… I've now come to understand that..." Yukino paused again, as if she was trying to find the right words, and I heard Hikigaya letting out a sigh as he fell back down onto the bed. "I… I don't see anything wrong with the relationship you two have, _personally_." A brief moment of silence passed, before an immense feeling of _relief_ washed over me, and I felt myself nearly collapsing. _Yukino-san… she…_

 _..She accepts us…_

"The three of us know best that you can't choose who you fall in love with, and with you two… Well, you just happened to fall in love with each other, despite being siblings." Yukino continued with a small smile, and I recognized her words as something I had told her last week. "And… that is fine. I now know that. You can't do anything about it, and you're not hurting anyone by being together, so there's no reason to see it as 'wrong'. The world is not so black and white, nothing is inherently right or inherently wrong. Each and every one of us has to figure that out for ourselves. And I… well, I now believe what you two have together is in no way ' _wrong_ '." Yukino smiled warmly at me, and before I knew it, I had jumped at the older girl and captured her in my embrace.

"Yukino-san… Thank you… This means… so much." I could almost feel tears welling up in my eyes, but held them back and hugged onto Yukino harder, and soon enough I felt her wrapping her own arms around me as well, albeit a little awkwardly.

"Thank you as well, Yukinoshita-san. Knowing you accept our relationship… It's the best news we've had during this stress-filled week." I heard Haru's voice from behind me. _Haah… I'm so happy and relieved…_

"That… I'm glad to hear that, Kasugano-kun. Of course, it won't be so easy to get used to this new mindset, having lived my entire life believing in something else, but… Seeing you two being so happy together, how could I _not_ doubt the validity of the social norms we are lead to believe are truths?" Yukino said and separated herself from me. "I've accepted your relationship with your brother, but it will take a little while to condition myself to that idea. O-of course, I plan on staying by my word, you don't have to worry about that." I smiled at the older, now slightly-flustered girl and took a hold of her hands.

" _Arigatou_ , Yukino-san." I thanked the raven-haired girl again as I squeezed onto her hands, and the surprised girl let a small smile appear on her face. _What a relief… I'm so glad Yukino-san is able to accept us._ I turned to look at my brother, who let out an audible sigh of relief, then smiled back at me. _If only the others could be as open-minded as Yukino-san, Hikigaya-san and Yumiko-san have been, Haru and I could just be ourselves._

"Well, glad that's all sorted out, now." Hikigaya spoke as he sat up again, everyone's gazes turning to him. "If I didn't know better, Sora, I'd think you were trying to _win over_ Yuki's heart, with the way you're clinging to her." He then continued with a slight grin.

"Oh? Is that so? You have a problem with that?" I asked and quickly grabbed onto Yukino again, who let out a surprised yelp at the sudden contact. "Aren't you used to seeing a girl _handling_ Yukino-san, given your relationship with Yumiko-san?" I turned my gaze towards the blonde, who's face began reddening at my words.

"S-Sora! T-that's..!" Yumiko began, but couldn't get the words to come out of her mouth. _Oh? I was just joking, but it seems there is something going on here…_ I felt a grin appearing on my face at the turn of events.

"Y-yeah, that is… a little..." Even Hikigaya was now blushing as he averted his gaze while scratching his cheek awkwardly.

"What? Am I wrong?" I finally turned my gaze to Yukino, who also sported a healthy blush on her face.

"I-I… W-we haven't… O-our relationship isn't that _i-intimate_..." Yukino said quietly, clearly embarrassed. _I never knew teasing others could be this fun…_

"What was that? You want to be _intimate_? I'm sorry, Yukino-san, but I'm not ready to have the kind of relationship with you that you obviously already have with Yumiko-san." I said and backed away from Yukino over-dramatically, hugging onto my own chest defensively. "I am happy that you think of me that way, but I have sworn myself to Haru." As I reached my brother, I hugged onto his arm, scanning the others in the room with my gaze.

Yukino, Yumiko and Hikigaya had all frozen in place, their wide eyes fixated on me. _Did I… go too far? Yukino-san was only just able to accept us, so is it too early to make jokes like that..? I don't really have any social skills, so I don't really know…_ Suddenly, the silence was broken by a snort coming from Yumiko, who soon afterwards burst out laughing. Her laugh elicited a slight chuckle from Hikigaya, while Yukino turned away with an embarrassed look on her face.

"Haah… Sora, that was good." Yumiko said once she calmed down from her laughing fit, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye as she stood up and walked over to me. "I didn't expect that from you, and neither did Yukinoshita. I don't think I've ever seen her this embarrassed!" Yukino seemed to shrink under our gazes as she let out a sigh of defeat.

"...I didn't think you'd be this cheeky, Sora-san..." Yukino said and turned to the rest of us. "I'm now finding myself questioning whether or not it was a good idea to become friends with you..." Yukino's words held no ill will or malice, and I giggled at her reply. _Looks like I worried for naught._ I slid my hand down Haru's arm and took a hold of his hand.

"I'm glad everything worked out, Haru." I said quietly to my brother as Yumiko began to tease Yukino more, while the raven-haired girl retaliated with as much as she could, the scene soon becoming the two girls trying their best to embarrass the other the most.

"I am too, Sora." Haru replied and pulled me closer, and I relished in his warmth. _I'm truly glad…_

 _...That I am able to keep the wonderful friends I've made._

* * *

 **AN: Finally, I'm done with this chapter. As I said at the beginning, I started working on this just a few hours before the year changed, but it took me over two weeks to finish. I blame my current semester, which is full to the brim with different courses. Well, at least my next semester will be more lax, so I'll be able to write more often.**

 **The next chapter I can _almost promise_ won't take a month to come out like this one did, but you all know how incapable I am when it comes to keeping promises. I'll try my best this time, though!**

 **Until then, I bid you all farewell!**


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Hello again, dear readers! This chapter would have come out sooner, but sudden illness prevented me from writing at all for an entire weekend. On a more bright note, we've made it to chapter 20! This fic is getting close to its conclusion, but as I've said before, I already have a sequel planned, so the story of the Kasugano twins won't end for a while. There are only a couple of plot points left and story elements to look at, and this chapter will resolve at least one of them. There will also be a lemon near the end, so you know to look out for it ;)**

 **Without further ado, let's get the 20th chapter underway!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20 – Exercise and Relaxation**

"Hmm… so the two of you are going to fly back on Monday with the Okazakis, huh? Onee-chan will be left all alone, then, since Yukino-chan is leaving too!"

"You can't blame us for that, Nee-san. Weren't you here to _spy_ for Mother, and were going to return once we did?"

"Well, I might as well enjoy the vacation while I'm here, right? My return flight is on the 2nd, next week, so I still have a week left. But it will be _so_ boring! Come on, Haru, won't you stay here with me?"

I looked away from the window I had been gazing out of up until now, meeting the eyes of Yukinoshita Haruno as she leaned over her shoulder to look at me, and I resisted the urge to let out a sigh.

"Sorry, Haruno-san. Sora and I can't stay here much longer, as we have some business to attend to back home."

My reply to Haruno was as neutral as possible, but her rose orbs kept gazing at me with intrigue for a few seconds, before she turned back forwards.

"That's no fun~" Haruno let out a sigh of disappointment – I couldn't tell whether it was genuine or not – then continued, not speaking to anyone in particular. "Well, I guess I'll just have to make do on my own. I might go around and see the other cities, this has place has been _dreadfully_ dull." Briefly, I looked towards the driver's seat of the car we were all in, but Harri didn't seem to have noticed what Haruno had said. The same could not be said for Mikami, who was sitting next to Harri, as evidenced by the quick glance he sent towards us in the seats behind the two of them. _Perhaps not the nicest thing to say so bluntly when our tour guide is right there… But, Haruno-san does have a point._

 _Our vacation is comi_ _ng_ _to an end._

In exactly a week's time, August would be over, and with it, the summer holiday. We had been in Finland for a month, and so much had happened to us, and yet it felt like everything had gone by in a flash. The last two weeks have been especially unforgettable. When Sora and I spent the beginning of our vacation with just the two of us, we could never have anticipated everything we would end up going through with Harri and his group, but neither of us regretted a single single second of it. Now, however, that was all ending. Yukinoshita, Yumiko and Hikigaya start their new semester on the first of September, so they are returning home on Saturday to give themselves enough time to get through the jet-lag, which leaves us alone for this final weekend with the Okazakis, Haruno, and Mikami, who is returning on the same flight as we and the Okazakis are on Monday. This Thursday is the last time all of us will be together, as Hikigaya, Yukinoshita and Yumiko will spend tomorrow with packing, so Harri wanted to gather us all one final time for some group activities. _It's a little bittersweet to sit here in Harri's SUV with everyone, knowing this will be the last time we get to do something like this… I guess we do still have the weekend with the Okazakis, but it is still a bit melancholic._

"Haru?" I was brought out of my musings as my sister's voice reached my ears, and I looked towards her on my left, meeting her grey eyes with my own. "Is there something on your mind?" There was a hint of concern in Sora's voice, and I noticed Kyou leaning forward to look at the two of us.

"I was just thinking how our time here is going to end soon." I replied to Sora and turned to look out of the window again, watching the city I had grown quite fond of rolling by. "Sorry if I made you worry, it was just my own silly melancholic thoughts." I turned back to my sister, who shook her head with a smile.

"It's fine, Haru. I'm always worrying about you. You should know that already." I smiled back Sora, who placed her hand on top of mine as it rested on my lap. "Besides, I get what you mean with that. I've… also enjoyed our time here." I saw Sora's gaze briefly flicking to the row of seats in front of us, where the three Chiba Uni students were sitting together with Haruno. _And I've enjoyed it at least as much as Sora has, especially given that I've gotten to see her make new friends._ _It would be a shame to have it all end here, so I hope we can keep in contact – though with Yumiko-san being as social as she is, I don't have many doubts about that._

"I'm really glad to hear that, Sora." Kyou's voice came from our left, and the two of us turned to face the older woman. "I've also had a lot of fun with you two, so it really is a shame our vacation is coming to an end… Ah, but this won't be the end for us though, right? We're going to deal with your relatives first, and if that goes well, we'll be seeing each other more often anyway." Kyou said to us with a smile. _She's correct. If everything goes smoothly… Kyou-san and Tomoya-san will become our legal guardians._ _And then, at the latest, we'll have to tell them the truth._

"I'm personally a little interested in that village you live in… Okukozome, was it?" Tomoya peeked past his wife at us, and I nodded in reply to his question. "You told us it was a small mountain village, but if it's got a High School, it can't be much smaller than Hikarizaka."

"I… guess it's not _that_ small, though the High School definitely still feels a little out of place. A lot of the students don't actually come from Okukozome itself, but from the surrounding countryside and the other smaller settlements nearby." I replied to Tomoya, bringing a hand to my chin in thought as I tried to recall all the bits of information I had learned from Kazuha. _Her family is the most influential one in Okukozome, though with how small the place is compared to many bigger cities, that doesn't mean much. Still, her family has a history with the place, and she told me quite a few things about it._

"Hmm… Well, I guess I have the chance to go and see the place for myself after we deal with the debacle with your relatives, since I've still got vacation left after we return." Tomoya said as he looked at us with a smile. "I could come and talk things through with your school, since we'll be becoming your legal guardians, and maybe there's some other stuff you need help with?"

" _Arigatou_ , Tomoya-san. The help is appreciated, even when you've done so much for us already." I replied to him, and Sora nodded alongside me.

"I don't feel like I've done much, but you're welcome, Haruka." As Tomoya spoke, his wife eyed him suspiciously, causing him to raise an eyebrow in question.

"Tomoya… Why are you never this helpful when it comes to doing the chores?" Kyou questioned from her husband, who quickly averted his gaze from her.

"A-ah, well… I-I'm always tired from work, that's why! The company works me to the bone some days, so I just don't have the energy to do them." Kyou's eyes narrowed even further, clearly not buying his excuse. "Er… Haruka, you get what I mean, right?" Tomoya turned to me, his gaze pleading. _I mean… I do get what he's saying, but…_

"...I can understand being tired, but even I do all the chores at home, and Sora helps with what she can. Leaving them for later will only cause trouble in the future." I said to Tomoya, whose face now became dejected, but he didn't give up yet, instead leaning forwards and tapping Hikigaya's seat in front of him.

"Hey, Hikigaya? I've heard you going on about 'corporate slavery' or something like that, so you're with me on this, right? When you're too tired from work, you just can't do anything, you get me?" The raven-haired young man shifted his head so he could look at the back seat, his gaze first meeting Tomoya's, then quickly flicking to me and Sora.

"Well, having lived my entire life under the wings of corporate slave parents, I know more than well how tiring the life of a working man – or woman – can be." Hikigaya replied, and a flash of hope appeared on Tomoya's face. "However… while I _do_ plan on not following in their footsteps precisely for that reason, doing one's chores is of extreme importance, especially for someone with my aspirations." As Hikigaya finished, Tomoya's expression became one of defeat, and I heard a quiet sigh coming from Yukinoshita's seat. _I'm… fairly sure those 'aspirations' are him referring to_ househusbandry _, which I've heard him mention a couple of times, so I don't blame Yukinoshita-san for that exasperated sigh._

"You heard him, Tomoya." Kyou said with a grin as her husband slumped back into his seat. "You won't find any sympathy for your laziness from these _fine_ gentlemen." Reacting to Kyou's words, some shuffling could be heard from the seats in front of us as Yukinoshita Yukino turned her head to look back at us.

"While I have no doubt that your words are true when concerning Kasugano-kun, Okazaki-san, when it comes to Hikigaya-kun..." Yukinoshita's blue eyes flicked to her boyfriend briefly, before they met Kyou's purple ones again. "...I wouldn't go so far as to call him a ' _fine gentleman_ '. Quite the opposite, in fact." A slight smile of amusement appeared on Yukinoshita's face, while Hikigaya's turned to a slight scowl. _Ah, I think I can see where this is going._

"Really? I don't think he's that bad, from what I've seen." Kyou replied to the younger woman as she cocked her head while trying to get a good look at Hikigaya, quite clearly oblivious to the fact that Yukinoshita's words were merely one of the many (mostly) harmless verbal jabs she enjoys throwing at her boyfriend. "Aren't you being a bit too harsh on him? I think Hikigaya-kun is a very nice and helpful young man. Even Ushio seems to like him." Kyou turned to look at the youngest of our group, who glanced at everyone briefly, before her gaze landed on Hikigaya, where it lingered for a second or two before she looked back at Kyou and nodded.

"You're giving me too much credit, Okazaki-san. I'm just good with kids, that's all. I do have a little sister, after all, so I've had plenty of practice in becoming the best older brother she could ask for. Just so happens to be that the skills an older brother has also translate well into caring for other younger children as well." Hikigaya said, leaning back in his chair so he wasn't looking back at us any longer.

"Siscon."

"Lolicon."

Hearing the words that betrayed no emotion – apart from perhaps _disgust_ – coming from Yumiko and Yukinoshita respectively, Hikigaya flinched in his seat, and I heard slight snort of amusement coming from Sora, and saw a small grin on Tomoya's face in the corner of my eye. _Hikigaya does end up becoming the butt of the joke quite often… I feel a little bad for him, but this is all just their usual banter –_ our _usual banter._ Even I now felt a small smile growing on my face, not from amusement at the situation, but from the feeling of knowing what great friends we'd made on our vacation.

"O-oi! I'm neither of those things! Yes, Komachi is very dear to me, but every brother would feel the same way about their sister." Hikigaya defended himself, then turned back to face me. "You agree, right, Haruka?" Similarly to Tomoya not too long before him, Hikigaya had turned to me for help, but judging by the slight change in his expression soon afterwards, he realized that I was not the best brother to ask such a question from, given my own relationship with my sister. _I do indeed care about Sora very much, and she is the thing the most dear to me in this world, but…_ I slowly turned my gaze to Sora, who met mine with her own and smirked, no doubt having come to the same conclusion as I had. _A lot of those feelings can be attributed to us being_ lovers _as well as siblings, so the argument doesn't quite work out the same way…_

"Oh, Haru _definitely_ feels that way about me, Hikigaya-san." Sora replied in my stead, leaning closer to me as she did. "I sometimes wonder if he really is a siscon." A wry smile appeared on Sora's face, and even Hikigaya's lips curved upwards slightly as he averted his gaze. _The three of them know the truth behind those words, while to the others,_ _this would seem like Sora teasing me. Though I do wonder…_ I found my gaze wandering towards the seat directly in front of mine, where I could just about see the back of Yukinoshita Haruno's head as she leaned against hand with her elbow propped up against the car door. _What does_ she _make of all this..?_

" _Alright everyone, we are here._ " Harri's voice came from the front seat as we pulled up to a parking lot, and everyone seemed to focus their attention either to him, or to where we had just arrived.

Looking out of the window, I was greeted by a large building that spanned multiple floors, with another building that seemed to be a sports hall just visible in the distance, past another, larger parking lot with numerous buses. This was our destination for today: _Santasport_ , a modern sports centre that combined the aspects of education, sports, and general well-being, and didn't take a genius to figure out _who_ the centre is named after and _why_ , given our proximity to the Arctic Circle.

"This place is pretty big… And its all for sports?" Sora mused to herself as we stepped out of Harri's SUV, the midday sun reflecting off the windows on the large central building.

" _Not all of it, Sora._ " Harri's sudden reply in English surprised my sister, whose head quickly turned to him as he walked up to us from the other side of the car, with everyone else beginning to group up by us as well. " _The main building houses the spa, the bowling alley, an indoor sports hall,_ _but also lecture halls and other spaces for seminars and such. Alongside all of that, Santasport also has a Sports Institute, where you can get education for making sports into a career._ " Harri paused briefly and turned to look at us with a smile as Sora tried to digest everything he had just said to us. " _My nephew is studying there,_ _and all he's had to tell me are positive things._ "

" _It sounds very impressive, Harri_." I said with a smile, and my sister nodded as well. " _I can't think of us having anything similar back home._ " I looked towards Yukinoshita and raised an eyebrow in question, hoping to see if she knew anything, and after a moment of thought, she shook her head.

" _There are Universities who take students in with sports scholarships, and I know of a couple of places that have their main focus on sports education, but based on the research I did on this place earlier today, none of them are exactly like this._ " Yukinoshita said, and Harri nodded to her in reply. " _So, what exactly is the plan? You said we would go to the spa today, at least, but it isn't open yet, right?_ " Yukinoshita then continued. _That's right, the spa… Sora and I didn't pack any bathing suits, but Harri told us that we can rent equipment there._

" _We'll be starting off with bowling. The bowling alley opens at twelve, so we're right on time. There's also an indoor activity park for children, so Ushio can spend time there, if she doesn't want to just sit and watch the adults._ " While Ushio didn't understand what Harri was saying, she still turned her curious gaze on the tour guide upon hearing her name. " _We can also see about utilizing the sports hall, or one of the gymnasiums, if you want to do some exercise. Does that sound good?_ " Harri's let his gaze wander to each of us, and after everyone silently agreed with his plans, we gave him nods of approval. " _Great! Let's get going, then._ "

Following Harri's lead, our group entered the main building, where most of the indoor facilities were situated. The entrance hall – which had been renovated not too long ago, according to Harri – was spacious and modern, the reception desk featuring a multitude of clocks above it, each set to the time of a different city from different parts of the world. It was already evening in Tokyo, while it was still early morning on the other side of the globe in the USA. As I watched the clocks ticking by, my mind briefly wandered to our aunt and uncle, who would have already finished work at this point. After Tuesday, they hadn't attempted to contact us at all, despite having ample time for it, and not even Hideki had received any words from them since. Not like it mattered all that much now, since we would meet them again in just a few days from now on – with Tomoya and Kyou on our side.

After Harri booked one of the bowling lanes for us (which took a little longer than I would have guessed, as Harri got caught up in a bit of a chat with the employee at the reception desk, likely a friend of his) our group made our way to the bowling alley, which was adjacent to the entrance hall. Apart from our admittedly large group, only one other lane was currently occupied by two people, who seemed to be speaking French – I couldn't tell specifically, as I didn't know the language. The bowling alley also had a small cafe next to it, where one could buy drinks and small snacks. After changing our shoes to the bowling shoes provided for customers, we split into pairs to make keeping score easier: myself and Sora, Yukinoshita and Yumiko, Haruno and Hikigaya (Who agreed to pair up with the older Yukinoshita sibling very reluctantly, though he told me it would have been worse to have Yumiko and Yukinoshita as opponents), Kyou and Tomoya, and finally Harri and Mikami. While Sora was initially sceptical about the whole thing, her worries were alleviated somewhat when Harri told us that the facility had lighter bowling balls meant for children to use, but which could also be used by someone as physically weak as Sora.

As quite a few of us – with the exception of Harri, Mikami, Yukinoshita and her sister – had never bowled before, the results of our first round were as one might have expected. Harri and Mikami were in the point lead, with Hikigaya and Haruno quite close behind, as the former turned out to be quite good at bowling, despite his lack of experience. Yukinoshita and Yumiko came after them – largely thanks to Yukinoshita – while Sora and I were tied on points with Kyou and Tomoya. My first attempt at bowling was shaky at best, but Sora didn't do too bad for herself, something which she attributed to the light-weight ball she had used, which had been easier to handle and throw. By our second round, everyone had gotten a lot more accustomed to the sport and we all did better. Hikigaya and Haruno quickly took the lead thanks to a strike Hikigaya managed to get, while Ushio scored a couple of points in place of her father, as she wanted to give bowling a try as well.

Before we had realized it, an hour had already passed, and Sora and I were sitting at the cafe while sipping some cool drinks and catching our breaths, though it was mostly Sora doing the latter. _Sora has been holding out fine so far, but no matter how light the bowling ball may be, it's going to take its toll on her. At least she knows her body's limits, so she'd tell us if things were too straining for her._

"How are you feeling, Sora?" Yumiko's voice reached my ears as she walked up to where my sister and I were sitting, pulling up a chair next to Sora.

"I'm fine, Yumiko-san. It's not like bowling is super complicated or straining, so with the lighter ball, even I'm managing fine." My sister replied to the older girl with a smile, which the blonde returned.

"That's like, good to hear. You were doing pretty okay for a first-timer with a… _handicap_." Yumiko said a little warily, but Sora didn't take any offence to her words and just shook her head.

"I could say the same, Yumiko-san." I said, bringing the girl's gaze to me. "You said you'd never bowled before, and… Well, ignoring the first round, you did pretty well yourself." Yumiko averted her gaze again and began to awkwardly play with a strand of her hair, her embarrassment about her getting the least amount of points out of anyone in the first round clearly still evident.

"Well… I would have like, been better, but me and my clique back in High School never went bowling. It was always karaoke or shopping, though sometimes we'd go to like, a sports hall or something, but never bowling. I never even went with Hikio." Yumiko said, and I followed her gaze to the scoreboard just above the lane where we had played, still displaying the final results. _In the end, it was close, but Hikigaya and Haruno-san managed to beat Harri and Mikami-san by a few points. Yukinoshita-san and Yumiko-san were in third, with Sora and I just behind them, though the individual points that Sora and Yumiko-san scored were not that far apart. Kyou-san and Tomoya-san held the last place, but they weren't too fussed about it._ "I'd say I did get better at bowling, but… the ball is still like, too big and clunky. Now, give me a smaller ball and a tennis racket, and _then_ we can talk competition!" Yumiko turned back to face us, a confident expression now gracing her pretty features.

"Oh, could you be talking about the last time we played tennis together, Miura-san?" Yumiko's expression turned sour as she heard Yukinoshita's voice from behind her, and she and Sora turned to look toward the black-haired girl. "I remember you losing to me quite unceremoniously, so I wouldn't go bragging about your skills to our friends here." A small smile graced Yukinoshita's lips as she walked up to us, clearly enjoying teasing her blonde friend.

"Just because you like, won once doesn't automatically make me a bad player." Yumiko retorted.

"Three times, actually." Yumiko's eyebrow twitched, but she took a deep breath to calm herself before responding. _I can see now why Hikigaya thought letting the two of them be on opposing teams would have been a bad idea… Both Yumiko-san and Yukinoshita-san are fiercely competitive, after all._

"And what about the previous two times that I've beaten you in a game of tennis?" Yukinoshita twitched a little at Yumiko's words, but brushed them off soon enough.

"That isn't relevant right now. More importantly, are you doing alright, Sora-san?" For a moment, Yumiko seemed annoyed that Yukinoshita had deflected her question, but then let out a sigh, seemingly not bothering arguing with her any more.

"You all will make me feel bad with how much you're worrying about me." My sister replied to Yukinoshita with a small smile. "I'm okay, Yukino-san." Yukinoshita relaxed a little upon hearing Sora's words, and nodded to her in reply. "So, you talked with Harri, right? What are we doing next? There's still an hour or so until the spa opens, as you said before."

"That is correct. Ushio seemed interested in the activity park for children that Harri mentioned earlier, so her parents were going to spend some time there with her. Harri suggested that we could either join them and wait until the spa opens, or utilize some of the other facilities we have access to while we wait." Yukinoshita replied to Sora, who turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow. _I… don't really mind what we do, to be honest._

"Hmm… Didn't Harri say that there was like, an indoor sports hall? Could we go and play a couple of tennis matches there?" Yumiko asked, her gaze flicking between each of us.

"Ara, could it be that you want to have a rematch here? I am more than happy to defeat you again, Miura-san, if you so wish." Yumiko's face twisted into a scowl again, but she quickly shrugged off Yukinoshita's words.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a _doubles_ match."

"You mean like _back then_ when you went against myself and Hikigaya-kun – against the Service Club?" Yukinoshita cocked her head as she looked upwards thoughtfully. "That certainly brings back some memories..." _The Service Club… Hikigaya has told us_ _about it a little bit._ _I_ _t was club that he, Yukinoshita-san and a third person – someone called Yuigahama – were a part of during High School. He seemed to have_ _made many_ _fond memories there._

"Something like that, maybe. Though… it might be better if we're on the same team." Yumiko twirled a strand of her hair around her finger and averted her gaze from Yukinoshita. _So she is aware of how their competitiveness can be harmful…_ "...If only to delay our rematch until we get home. Anyway, Haru, Sora, would you be up for being our opponents?" Yumiko now turned to us, and I looked towards my sister, meeting her gaze with my own.

"I'd be glad to, but..." Sora smiled at me and reached out for my hand, placing her own on top of it.

"I can watch your game, or be the referee, don't worry, Haru." Sora said to me, then turned her gaze to Yumiko. "I would love to play with you, Yumiko-san, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do it for long." My sister's words seemed to sent a jolt of guilt through Yumiko, who smiled to her apologetically, as if only now remembering her weak physique. "One day… I'll play a proper game of tennis with you, I promise that."

"Don't sweat it, Sora. Yukinoshita can't keep up with me for extended periods of time either, so I know how to go easy on girls like her." Yumiko said with a slight grin, briefly glancing at the black-haired girl in question, though judging from her face, the jab at her limited stamina was ineffective. "But, like, I wouldn't want you to feel bored, or out of place if it's just us three playing… Speaking of which, if we're going to play doubles, we'd need a pair for Haru."

"We could ask Hikigaya? Where did he go, by the way?" I asked, glancing between Yumiko and Yukinoshita. _After we finished our bowling, we all separated a little to relax for a bit before our next activity._

"Hikio went to the bathroom, like I did, but he was still there when I returned here. At least, that's what I assume." Yumiko replied, then turned her gaze to Yukinoshita.

"Hachi wasn't with us when I went to talk with Harri. The Okazakis were there as well, but Harri did say that we would group up here after finishing with our break to decide what to do next." Just as Yukinoshita finished, a pair of familiar voices reached our ears, coming from the direction of where the bathrooms were.

"...That's no fun, Hikigaya-kun~!"

"As I said, it's not my place to tell you. Stop bothering me about it."

"How mean! And here I thought you'd be willing to help your friendly Onee-chan… Ah! Yahhallo, everyone!" Upon noticing us gathered at the cafe, Yukinoshita Haruno quickened her steps and sped past Hikigaya, who she had just arrived with. _I guess we now know what held him up so long…_ "Oh? Is Harri not here yet?"

"Harri is currently talking with the Okazakis, but they should arrive here soon enough. Mikami-san should return any minute as well." Yukinoshita replied to her older sister, while Hikigaya quietly walked up to us, meeting my eyes with his own briefly and giving me a quick nod of acknowledgement. "I would like to ask what you were doing with Hikigaya-kun, Nee-san." Yukinoshita shot a cold glare at her older sister, but she was unfazed by it.

"What do you mean? I was just having a chat with him, that's all." Haruno tilted her head as she looked at her younger sister with a perplexed expression, before a small smile appeared on her face. "Unfortunately he wasn't very _cooperative_ , the meanie." Haruno sent a glance at Hikigaya, who rolled his eyes in return. "So, what are you planning on doing? Or are you just waiting for Harri?"

"We… were going to see if we could play a couple of tennis matches or something at the sports hall." Yumiko answered Haruno's question, then, as if realizing something, looked towards Hikigaya. "Oh, yeah, Hikio! You're playing with Haru against us, okay? Thanks!"

"Oi, don't just assume I'll accept every request you make like that." Hikigaya replied in an annoyed voice.

"Hm? What, are you saying you like, don't wanna play with us?"

"I didn't say that. Just that-" Before Hikigaya could finish, Haruno interrupted her.

"I'll play with you, Haru!" In a flash, Haruno had appeared by my side and was leaning closer to me, and I saw Sora scowling a little, but she quickly composed herself. "You're going to playing doubles, right? I can pair up with Haru. Ah, it'll be great to play against Yukino-chan~!" I shifted in my seat to move farther from Haruno and sent a pleading gaze towards Yumiko and Yukinoshita, who both looked at each other with expressions that told me they were suppressing their sighs. _Even if we said no to her, I don't think she would give up that easily. Now that she's decided that she wants to play with me, there's not much we can do_ _to stop her._

"...If you really insist, Nee-san, but… Are Kasugano-kun and Sora-san okay with this?" Yukinoshita spoke out, her gaze shifting between my sister and I.

"I..." I glanced at Sora, who let out a small sigh and leaned on her elbow, resting her head on her palm. _No opposition, so she must have realized the same thing as I have._ "...I don't mind, unless Hikigaya really wants to play. We could always switch around the teams as well." Haruno eyed me for a few moments, then shifted her gaze to Sora, who was looking down at her drink as she swirled the glass around, the nearly-melted ice cubes making little ' _clink_ ' sounds as they hit the sides of the glass.

"Seems we're all in agreement to that proposal, then." Haruno said after a few moments of silence had passed, her gaze scanning over everyone.

"We should still like, see what Harri has to say, if he's planned something else for us before the spa opens." Yumiko continued after her, and Yukinoshita nodded along to her statement. _It seems Yukinoshita Haruno's appearance has kind of killed the mood… None of us here particularly like having her around – and she knows it – which can explain it._

All agreeing with Yumiko, we began to wait until the rest of our group returned, engaging in light chatter as we did. Soon enough, the awkward atmosphere that had appeared with Yukinoshita Haruno dissipated, but Sora and I couldn't help being on edge around her – though I don't think anyone could blame us for that.

It didn't take long for Harri to return, with Kyou, Tomoya, Ushio and Mikami right behind. After a brief discussion about our plans for today, we decided to separate to take part in our chosen activities for now, then group back up when the spa opened. Finally, we would end our day by having dinner at the restaurant here, then go for a quick trip to the Santa Claus Village before returning to the hotel, as Yukinoshita and I were the only ones who had visited it so far – though Haruno was with us as well, but even she hadn't seen all of it yet.

With a clear plan in mind, Sora and I, along with Yumiko, Yukinoshita, Haruno and Hikigaya, made our way to the indoor sports hall. Immediately upon entering I couldn't help but be impressed with it. The sports hall was simply massive, with a running track surrounding all manner of courts for various different sports, a gym, a climbing wall, and more. Simply put, it had everything that anyone interested in sports could ask for.

"This place is… impressive, to say the least." Yumiko said as we made our way towards one of the courts.

"Indeed it is. The people here must be grateful to have access to services such as this." Yukinoshita continued after her blonde friend, then turned to her boyfriend. "Hikigaya-kun, would you please go and procure some racquets for us, seeing as you're not playing?"

"What, and have you laze around here? I'm not a pack mule." Hikigaya replied, though I got the feeling the irritation in his voice was in mock.

"The four of us will go change while you do that. Oh, now while I remember, you do have some clothes you're comfortable sweating in, Kasugano-kun? Or do you need to go rent some?" Yukinoshita shifted her gaze to me and tilted her head slightly in question.

"Yeah, since we were going to a sports centre today, I took some lighter clothing with me." I replied, and Yukinoshita nodded back to me. _It's not particularly sports equipment, but I did pack a t-shirt and some shorts with me on this trip, so they should suffice for a couple of tennis matches._ _And if this place doesn't provide shoes like they did for the bowling, this pair should be fine for usage indoors._

"I'll come with you, Hikigaya-san." My sister said, and the black-haired young man turned his gaze to her, raising an eyebrow as he did. "I'll help you with the racquets."

"I… really doubt I'll need help with carrying a couple of racquets, but if you want to, sure." Hikigaya replied to Sora, who nodded to him.

"Hmmm..? Securing a rendezvous with another girl, and right in front of Yukino-chan as well? How bold of you, Hikigaya-kun." Haruno said with a slight grin, her gaze flicking between her younger sister and Hikigaya.

"That is clearly not what is going on, so please stop intentionally misinterpreting things." Hikigaya said, then motioned for Sora to follow him. "Come on, Sora. Let's go get those racquets." After receiving another nod from my sister, Hikigaya began to walk away from us, and Sora followed after him shortly afterwards, Haruno's gaze lingering on the pair for a few seconds, before she turned to the rest of us.

"Well, shall we get changed? I can't wait to play against Yukino-chan~!"

The four of us then made our way to the changing rooms, the girls separating to leave me alone in the men's changing room. It didn't take me long to change into the t-shirt and shorts I had with me, and given the fact that I couldn't see the girls anywhere after exiting, I figured I was the first to finish changing. _Sora doesn't usually take that long to change clothes… Then again, she doesn't really change that often, other than for her school uniform and whatnot._ As I did some stretches on the edge of the tennis court, I found my thoughts wandering back to school, and everything else back home. _Assuming everything goes well with our relatives, there's still a couple of obstacles we have to face. Sora and I will need to get a source of income, as we can't rely on the Okazakis for everything. We'll also need to figure things our for school, most likely, though Tomoya-san did say he would be there to aid with that, if it was needed. And then… There are our friends._ _I'm a little scared meeting them again. How will they react to Sora and I? Nao and Kuranagi already know, but have they told the others? We won't be able to hide our relationship forever, and quite frankly, I doubt Sora would agree to do even doing that…_

"Yo, Haruka. The girls not ready yet?" A sudden voice brought me out of my thoughts, and I turned to its source to see Hikigaya and Sora returning, carrying four racquets with them, but I couldn't see any tennis balls on either of them. In fact, Sora was carrying something else with her – a _shuttle_ used in badminton.

"Ah, no, they're not." I replied and briefly glanced towards the changing rooms. "I was just doing so stretching to warm up beforehand. What's with the shuttle, Sora? Did they not have tennis balls?" I asked and pointed at the white object my sister was holding onto, now also noticing that the racquets were not quite the design I was used to in tennis racquets.

"They did, but Hikigaya-san said we should take the badminton equipment instead." Sora replied, lifting up the racquets she was carrying.

"Yumi is an absolute _beast_ when it comes to tennis, but she isn't as familiar with badminton, so I figured this would even out the playing field a little. It should also be a little lighter on Yuki, as tennis can tend to get a little hectic." Hikigaya continued, handing me one of the racquets he was holding.

"I see… I've never played badminton, but there's a first for everything, right?" I said and did a few test swings with the racquet. _It feels lighter than what one would use for tennis… We'll have to see how this goes._

"It's not that difficult. You score points by having the shuttle land on the opposing side of the court, and you can only hit the shuttle once when it's on your side. The shuttle has a high top speed, but it loses that speed very rapidly due to the higher drag, so keep that in mind when playing." Hikigaya explained as he took the shuttle Sora was holding and placed it on the racquet he was still holding onto. "This'll be a casual game, so we won't stress over all the official rules too much – though Yuki might be insistent about doing so anyway."

"What would I be insistent about, Hikigaya-kun?" The three of us turned towards the source of the voice and were met by Yukinoshita, Yumiko and Haruno as they made their way over to us, now dressed in attire more appropriate for sports. "Hm? Those racquets… I believe we said we were going to play tennis, Hikigaya-kun, but it seems your rotten brain is incapable of understanding even that much."

"No, that's not it. If we played tennis, you'd have an unfair advantage with Yumi on your team. With badminton, the teams should be a little more balanced." _Well, I'm pretty much a newbie at this, though, whereas they all have some experience… At least, that's what I assume. How well I'm able to do against Yukinoshita-san and Yumiko-san will depend on how good Haruno-san is._

"Aww, you were thinking about me that much, Hikigaya-kun? How sweet of you~!" Haruno sang and attempted to hug Hikigaya, who nimbly dodged out of the way and pushed the racquet in his hands to her.

"...It was more out of consideration for Haruka, not you." Hikigaya grumbled, then turned his gaze to Yukinoshita. "And… well, I guess for Yuki, too." The black-haired girl in question tilted her head in confusion, and Hikigaya averted his gaze in embarrassment. "I mean… Tennis can get pretty hectic when the ball starts to switch sides more rapidly as the game progresses, and with Yumi on your team as well… I figured badminton would be easier on you." A slight blush crept onto Yukinoshita's face, and she smiled warmly at her boyfriend.

"Hachi..."

"Alright alright let's get started then." Yumiko interrupted the moment, and I saw the look on her face being – unsurprisingly – one of annoyance as she grabbed the two racquets Sora was still holding and giving one of them to Yukinoshita. "We'll need to adjust this net, since we're playing badminton now. Come on, Hikio, help me out with this."

"A-ah, sure." Hikigaya quickly complied with Yumiko's request upon seeing the glare she was sending his way. _Ah, I do feel a little bad for Yumiko-san sometimes… I also get the feeling Hikigaya will be doing quite a bit_ _of 'making up' with Yumiko-san tonight…_

Soon enough, all of our preparations were done, and the four of us were in position to begin playing, with Sora and Hikigaya stood off to the side to act as the referees. Yumiko and Yukinoshita would be the first ones to serve, and they made it very clear right from the start that they were taking this seriously. Luckily for me, Haruno was no newbie when it came to badminton, and was able to return Yumiko's powerful serve with little effort. At first, I had a bit of trouble keeping up with the others, but as Hikigaya had anticipated, badminton was a lot more "chill" than tennis would have been, so I quickly got used to the pacing, and was able to compete with the others on relatively equal footing.

We had decided that the game would be best of three, and a team scored a win when they reached fifteen points. The first match resulted in mine and Haruno's win with 15-13 points by the end. In our second match, Yukinoshita and Yumiko showed us their truly competitive natures, playing aggressively and managing to win 15-9. By that point, Yukinoshita was getting a little tired, so we had a short break before the deciding match.

"Good work, Haru." Sora said as she walked up to me while I sat on the ground catching my breath, and my sister held out a bottle of water for me.

"Thanks, Sora." I replied and took the bottle from her, taking a long swig of water to cool myself off. _Ah, that hits the spot…_ "This has been really fun, but I'm nearly ready to go soak in some warm water." I continued and looked upwards, towards the distant clock on the wall. _The spa opens at two, so we'll be heading straight back to the entrance hall after this final match to group up with the others._

"Oh, so you can ogle at us girls in our swimwear? What a pervy brother I have." Sora said in a teasing tone as she sat down next to me. "Yumiko-san showed me the swimsuit she packed with her on this trip – you're going to have trouble keeping your eyes off her, Haru." Sora playfully nudged me on the shoulder and let out a little giggle.

"I can only hope it's nothing _too_ scandalous. This is a recreational spa, and not some beach resort, after all." I replied with a sigh, then briefly glanced around, not seeing Haruno anywhere within hearing range. "And… well, you know I only have eyes for one girl, Sora." I placed my right hand on top of my sister's left one and locked my gaze with hers. Seeing her warm smile made me want to lean in and kiss her, but with the possibility of Haruno seeing us, I had to restrain myself.

"And it's a good thing that's the case." A sudden voice made the two of us jump, and we turned to see Hikigaya walking up to us, stopping just on my left. "The girls are… _territorial_ when it comes to me, to put it nicely, but I'm just as protective of them." Hikigaya turned to look at us, a small, almost _playful_ smile on his lips. "I wouldn't want to resort to any _unpleasant_ measures, now would I?"

"You don't have to worry about that, Hikigaya." I replied to him with a smile of my own. "Well, I'll try my best not to ogle, but with two such pretty girls, I can't make any promises about my eyes not wandering." The slight smile on Hikigaya's face turned into a grin, and I turned back to my sister, who was looking back at me with a deadpan expression. "Of course, you're the prettiest of them all, Sora." I lifted up my hand and ruffled my sister's hair, and she smiled briefly, before moving my hand away.

"With that kind of flattery, I'm lead to believe you want to get into my pants, oh dear brother of mine." Sora said and grinned at me. " _Siscon_." Briefly, I was stunned by Sora's sudden behaviour, but then let out a sigh and shook my head.

"...I fear you've learned too much from Yukinoshita-san and Yumiko-san." Sora let out another giggle, then leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulders.

"Passing on their wisdom, huh? Depending on how much Sora picks up from them, you'll be in for a hard time in the future, Haruka." Hikigaya said and gazed at his two girlfriends in the distance, who seemed to be in the middle of conversation, though we couldn't hear anything from our position. "Oh, and… I don't think I need to tell you two this, but be careful of Yuki's sister." All of a sudden, Hikigaya's voice had become serious, and I felt Sora tensing up next to me. "She asked me earlier if I knew anything about you two. Of course, I didn't tell her anything, but she knows you two are hiding something from her."

"Yeah, we know that. She's said it to us directly." I replied and glanced around again, still not seeing Haruno anywhere. _She said she'd use the break to go buy a drink, but she still hasn't come back…_ "I… think she definitely suspects there's something going on between Sora and I, something we're not telling the others."

"And so she turned to me, believing I would know something." Hikigaya said with a sigh, turning his gaze upwards. "She is a terrifying woman. Either she she shows no interest in someone, ignoring their very existence, but those who she finds interesting..." Hikigaya turned to look at us again, and I could tell from the look in his eyes that he was speaking from first-hand experience. "...She plays with them until they break. Sorry, I'm not meaning to scare you two, but..."

"We get you, Hikigaya." I said before Hikigaya could say anything more, and he nodded in understanding. "Do you think she'll try to… _do something_ this coming weekend, since Sora and I will be leaving on Monday?"

"I can't say for sure, but there will definitely be a confrontation." Hikigaya glanced around, then continued in a lower voice. "I… can't imagine what she would do if she found out about you two. I don't think she'd be _disgusted_ by the idea or anything, but… She would definitely use it against you in some way. Yukinoshita Haruno isn't one to shy away from _blackmailing_ others – or _worse_ – for her own gain or amusement."

"...We'll be careful, Hikigaya-san. Thanks." Sora said, and Hikigaya nodded to her in reply. _I hope we don't have to deal with her, but I fear that_ _is an_ _unreasonable request…_ _This will be a long weekend._

Once Haruno returned, we resumed our game for the final, deciding match. Having all rested for a bit, we were ready for likely our most intense match yet. I started the match with a serve, and Yumiko was immediately on it, seemingly continuing with her aggressive playstyle. They were not willing to lose. The previous two matches had taught me, however, that while Haruno was usually quite playful, she was taking this as seriously as our opponents were, and was not about to let them get a second win with their aggressiveness. None of us said a single word the entire match, our attention solely on the shuttle as it flew back and forth over the net, and for the longest time, it felt like it would never even hit the ground. The stalemate could only last for so long, though, and eventually broke as one team managed to score a point. The match was longer than the previous two, and it was clearly beginning to affect Yukinoshita, but Yumiko covered for her teammate expertly, and our scores were neck-and-neck till the very end. And, as the shuttle hit the ground for the final time, all of us were just about ready to collapse.

"Haaaah… That was… a match, alright..." Yumiko said as she leaned against one of the poles supporting the net. "You played… well, Haru."

"Thanks, but… looks like you triumphed in the end." I replied and looked towards the shuttle lying on the ground just a little ways away from me. The final strike from Yumiko had sent the shuttle far towards the corner of our side of the court, and neither Haruno or I managed to get to it in time, scoring Yukinoshita and Yumiko their 15th point. _This was definitely a close one. We were just one point away from a victory ourselves._

"It sucks that we lost, but we all had fun, right, Haru?" Haruno said as she walked up to me. Out of the four of us, Haruno seemed the least exhausted, but even her breathing was heavy.

"This was the most intense game of badminton I've ever played, at the very least." Yukinoshita said as she wiped her brow, currently leaning onto Hikigaya for support. "We should get moving, though. It seems the others are waiting." She then continued and pointed towards the side of the court, where we could see Mikami standing and looking in our direction. _Harri must have sent him to check on us. It is already past two o'clock, after all._

All agreeing with Yukinoshita, we made our way to the changing rooms again while Hikigaya returned our equipment. While we were hurrying as much as we could, having to relax for a bit after the game meant that we took around the same amount of time to change back as it did to change into our attire, though the girls were a little faster this time. After changing, we hurriedly made our way back to the entrance hall and regrouped with everyone else, and after buying our spa tickets – as well as renting swimsuits for those of us who didn't have our own – we made our way to the spa, splitting off into the men's and women's showering areas.

" _The spa here at Santasport offers a little bit for everyone, but we'll group up again once we're in before splitting off, alright?_ " Harri said to everyone as we stood outside the entrances to the men's and women's dressing and locker rooms, just beyond which the showers were located, and the spa area itself after that. Harri's gaze scanned over each of us, and after receiving nods from everyone, he clapped his hands together and spoke again. " _Alright, let's go_ _to_ _relax and have_ _some_ _fun._ _Dinner at the restaurant starts at four o'clock, so let's try to spend at least two hours here. Now, let's head on in_."

With those final words, our group, now split into two, entered through our respective doors to ready ourselves for some relaxation at the spa.

* * *

"You played badminton, huh? I wish I could have joined you guys… I would have left Ushio with Tomoya if I had known." Kyou said as the six of us walked into the shower room, where only a few other women could be seen. _There's more of us than there are any other people here… I guess it's good we came here pretty much as soon as the spa opened._

"Oh, do you like, play sports, Kyou-san? You seemed like the type." Yumiko asked from the older woman as she walked up to one of the showerheads, placing her swimsuit on a nearby stool as she began to turn the shower on.

"Not really, I don't think. I mean, I do exercise regularly, but not really any actual sports." Kyou replied, turning on her own shower as Ushio walked up behind her, closing her eyes as the water began to fall on her. "This little rascal takes away a lot of my time, but since Tomoya doesn't really have any hobbies, I'm able to leave her in his care if I want to go to the gym or something."

"Yes, I would imagine having a child will lessen the amount of free time one has." Yukinoshita Haruno chimed in on the conversation as she walked over to the shower next to where I was currently cleaning myself off, my rental swimsuit in my hands. _The swimsuits you could rent here look a little like the school swimsuits we have back home… Hopefully there aren't any perverts like Ryouhei here. Though, I wouldn't mind it if the swimsuit brought some excitement to Haru…_ "Though, weren't you… _lucky_ with Ushio, Kyou-san, having skipped past the part of her childhood the most time consuming for the parents?"

"That's… a bit of a _mean_ way to put it, but… yes, I wasn't there for Ushio's early childhood. And, neither was Tomoya, as she was brought up by her grandparents while Tomoya suffered from depression." I saw a melancholic look appear on Kyou's face, and Ushio must have sensed her mother's mood, as she looked up at her with a bit of concern. "But, that's in the past, so we shouldn't dwell on it. Tomoya and I… have been… _trying_ for a child of our own… though I'm not sure if Tomoya has realized that's what I've been aiming for when we… y-you know." A slight dusting of red appeared on Kyou's face as she now helped Ushio into her swimsuit. _Kyou-san isn't the only one here hoping for a child… Which reminds me, it's nearly been a week since I did the first test. I'll see if I can redo it when we get back to the hotel this evening._

"Taking care of a child is always a big undertaking, especially for first-time parents." Yukino chimed in, currently in the midst of tying her hair in a ponytail. "However, with your experience with Ushio, you should be fine, Okazaki-san. And you are a kindergarten teacher as well, are you not?" Yukino glanced over at Kyou, who nodded to her in reply. "Then I'm sure you'll have no problems. It is always good to remember that a baby needs a different kind of care than a young child does, however."

"Thank you, Yukinoshita-san. Somehow hearing that from a smart girl like you makes me more confident." Kyou said and giggled warmly, while I raked my hand through my wet hair. _I undid my hair for the showering, but… I feel like I should have brought something to tie it up with…_

"Do you want me to help you with that, Sora-san?" I heard Yukino's voice from behind me, and I turned around to see the older girl walking up to me, having successfully tied her own hair and holding another hairband.

"Yes, _arigatou_ , Yukino-san." Yukino smiled at me, then moved behind me to tie my hair, and I turned off the shower. As I waited for Yukino to finish tying my hair, I let my gaze wander over everyone else as they showered and put on their swimsuits, and I became quite aware of just how pretty they all were. Of course, I already knew all the girls in our group were beautiful, but now seeing each of their bodies completely, I couldn't help but feel a little bit a jealousy sparking up within me.

Yumiko, Kyou and Haruno were all quite _well-endowed_ , with curvy and alluring bodies, though Kyou definitely took the win in the _size category_ out of the three of them. Haruno and Yumiko were close in size, and while normally I would have said Haruno to be the more attractive one of the two of them simply due to her mature charm, I now, for the first time, got a good look at Yumiko's legs and hips, both of which had an almost hypnotizing allure to them that would no doubt draw gazes. And even Yukino, who I was the closest to when compared in purely physical traits, I felt outshine me. While she was more petite than the others, her long legs were as charming as Yumiko's, and even the _smaller parts_ of her body had their own allure to them. I also now knew that Yukino's clothes made her chest appear smaller than it actually was, easily surpassing mine in size, though still coming nowhere close to Yumiko. Being surrounded by all of these pretty older women made me feel a little _inferior_ , but I didn't let it show. _I trust Haru, so I know he wouldn't look at the others over me, but I wouldn't blame him if his gaze did end up wandering… I know I have a very pretty face – Haru does as well, and we are twins – but there is only a small group of people who would be_ excited _over a body like mine… Then again, do I even care how many people find me attractive? As long as Haru does, that's all I need._

"There we go, all done." Yukino's voice brought me out of my thoughts, and I cleared my head as I inspected my hair, which had been put into twintails by Yukino – not that far off from what I usually did myself.

"Thanks again, Yukino-san." I thanked the black-haired girl again, then began to put on my swimsuit. _I shouldn't dwell on those kinds of thoughts. All that matters to me is what Haru thinks of me, and I already know what that is._ Satisfied with my conclusion, I felt a smile growing on my face.

After we had all changed into our swimsuits, we left the showers behind and made our way to the spa area itself. Just like Harri had said to us before, there was something for everyone, as I immediately spotted multiple pools of varying sizes (and I guessed temperatures as well), a large four-lane fitness pool, a hot tub and a kiddie pool. As the spa had only just opened, there were very few people around, and judging on the amount of people we had seen coming in here, as well as based on the fact that it was a Thursday, I guessed it wouldn't get crowded any time soon. A little ways away, we spotted a familiar group of people chatting amongst themselves, and the six of us made our way to them.

" _Ah, here come the girls now._ " Harri was the first to speak out after we got close enough, and everyone else soon turned to us as well.

" _We didn't make you wait, did we?_ " Yukino asked, and Harri shook his head.

" _Not at all. We just got out of the showers not too long ago._ " _That sounds like something you would say just as a means to make us feel better…_ " _Now that we're all here,_ _you're free to do as you please. We'll try to group up again before we leave for dinner. Take this time to enjoy and relax. I for one am ready to soak myself in the cold water pool._ " Harri finished with a stretch, looked over us all once more, then began to make his way towards one of the pools. _Cold water? Why would anyone want to swim in cold water? I'll never understand Finns..._

"I'll go and do a few laps, then." Mikami said to no-one in particular, then scanned over the rest of us with his gaze before speaking again. "I'll see you all around." Without waiting for a reply, Mikami started to head towards the fitness pool. _Mikami-san is surprisingly muscular… I guess he works out regularly._ After watching Mikami go, I turned my gaze to my brother, who – while not being scrawny by any means – was clearly the least muscular out of the men, as even Hikigaya had a bit of muscle on him. _Am I really comparing Haru to the others? I mean, I guess I can't really help it, as he's the only one I've seen…_ shirtless _before, but… Well, Haru is perfect for me just the way he is – though I wouldn't say no to a bit more muscle._

"We'll be over at the kiddie pool, Sora, Haru." Kyou said to us, and we nodded at her as Tomoya and Ushio were already walking towards the shallowest of the pools, Ushio's amber eyes locked onto the water slide.

"So, Hikio? How do I look?" Yumiko asked from Hikigaya after the others had left us, doing a little twirl as she did so. If I were to describe Yumiko's swimsuit with one word, it would be _skimpy_. Her frilly bikini was green in colour, and left very little to the imagination, though it wasn't _too_ revealing, doing its job of keeping her covered. And despite his biggest efforts, Hikigaya couldn't help his gaze wandering – much to Yumiko's pleasure and Yukino's _displeasure_.

"W-what are you asking me for?" Hikigaya averted his gaze as Yukino glared at him, and a small grin of victory appeared on Yumiko's face.

"Miura-san, could you please refrain from doing such things with Hikigaya-kun." Yukino said in a cold voice and moved so she was stood next to Hikigaya, taking a hold of his arm and pulling him close, causing a slight blush to appear on his face. Briefly, Yumiko's eye twitched, but she managed to control herself and let out a sigh.

"Well, you're no fun. How about you then, Haru? What do you think?" Yumiko turned her gaze to my brother, posing for him with a mischievous smile.

"Eh? Well… It… looks good, I guess. The… colour fits with your eyes." Haru replied a little awkwardly, keeping his eyes up above to the best of his ability. _I know Yumiko-san is just doing this for fun, but… Haah, I shouldn't be getting jealous. I know better than that._ Yumiko seemed to be surprised by Haru's reply, as she looked back at him with a blank expression, completely unmoving, and after a few seconds had passed, she burst out laughing.

"Ahahahaa! What was with that line, Haru?" Yumiko managed to say as she wiped tears from her eyes, and now it was Haru's turn to be confused. "' _The colour fits with your eyes'…_ It sounds like something straight out of one of Hikio's novels." For a moment, it looked like Hikigaya was about to say something, but only let out a sigh instead. "I appreciate the compliment, though. I know you meant it. _Someone_ could really learn from you." Yumiko placed a hand on Haru's shoulder and shot a glance at Hikigaya, who scowled a little at the blonde's remark. "Don't you think so too, Yukinoshita?" I felt a small smile growing on my face, having learned to anticipate what was about to come.

"Oh yes, definitely. I think a lot of people – a lot of _men –_ could learn from Kasugano-kun. He at least seems to know proper etiquette when around the fairer of the two sexes." A small smile of amusement played across Yukino's lips.

"You're giving me too much credit..." Haru said with an awkward laugh and looked towards me as he rubbed the back of his neck. _Sorry, nothing I can do now. When the two of them get going, Hikigaya-san is the only who can stop them. I can't say it's not amusing to watch, though._

"...If you're going to make fun of me anyway, might as well do it in one of the pools. No use standing here and doing nothing." Hikigaya said and began to walk towards the hot tub in the distance. "Come on, you must be tired after the badminton match, Yuki, and we came here to relax." Briefly, Hikigaya stopped and looked back, his gaze landing on Yumiko. "...And you as well, Yumi."

"It seems he does know some common courtesy, at least." Yukino said and turned to look at Yumiko, who met her blue eyes with her own green ones.

"Indeed it does." Yumiko replied, and the girls shared a little giggle between themselves, before following after Hikigaya.

"They've got quite a dynamic… Though I do sometimes feel bad for Hikigaya." My brother said as he watched the trio make their way over to the hot tub. "Shall we follow their lead?" Haru smiled as he held out his hand, and I took a hold of it with a smile of my own.

"Yes, their dynamic is quite interesting indeed..." Yukinoshita Haruno – who had been oddly quiet the whole time, so much so I had nearly forgotten her presence – suddenly spoke out. "I sometimes worry that Hikigaya is going to capture Miura-san with his charms – if he hasn't already done so – and snatch him away, leaving poor Yukino-chan alone again." Haruno's gaze lingered on the now-distant forms of Hikigaya, Yukino and Yumiko for a few seconds, before she turned to us, the look on her face telling us she was expecting some sort of reaction from us.

"I… don't think that will be a problem." Haru said, and Haruno raised an eyebrow in question. "I mean… Hikigaya and Yukinoshita-san are so… _suited_ for each other, and I can't imagine him being _disloyal_ with her. Besides, Yumiko-san is just… a good friend to them." Haruno silently studied my brother's face for a few moments, before looking away again. _Hikigaya-san said she had tried to probe him for information regarding us, because she suspects something is going on between Haru and I, so could this be… her doing the opposite? Trying to probe_ us _for information regarding the three of them..?_ Briefly, I was reminded of what Yukino and Yumiko had told us back when they told us their secret, and I had to fight back the shudder that nearly went through my body. _I have to admit, they were a little_ scary _back then… Haru and I don't really care if other people find out about our relationship, but we are having to hide it out of convenience for now. For them, however… Someone finding out could very well have some extremely bad results._

"Well, I guess you're right, Haru." Haruno said after a few moments of silence had passed, then began to walk towards the fitness pool, where Mikami was currently. "I think I'll do what Mikami-san is doing and do a few laps." With a mysterious smile on her face, Haruno gave us a small wave, then continued towards the fitness pool.

"...I don't like her one bit, Haru." I said quietly after Haruno was out of earshot.

"Me neither, Sora." Haru replied, then squeezed onto my hand. "But, we aren't here today to worry about her, are we?" He then continued with a smile, and I smiled back at him. "Let's go and have a soak, shall we? My muscles are aching, so I think the hot tub should be our first stop." Haru stretched his free arm and winced, and I let out a little giggle.

"Maybe I could give you a massage when we get back to the hotel tonight." I said to my brother as we began to slowly make our way to the hot tub, where we could see Hikigaya sandwiched between his girlfriends. _Oh yes, a very_ special _massage. But, before I do that…_ I let my free hand wander down to my lower stomach as Haru called out to our friends.

 _...I need to make sure of something first._

* * *

"Haah… I'm tired..."

I slumped down on the hotel bed, almost feeling like falling asleep right then and there. _It was an exhausting day, but… We had fun._

After eating dinner at Santasport, Harri took us all to the Santa Claus Village, where we spent the rest of the afternoon, returning to the hotel when it was getting close to seven in the evening. While Yukinoshita and I had gone through the entire place pretty thoroughly a week ago, the rest of our group – apart from Haruno – had never visited the place. And while we didn't have time to visit all of the different places within the holiday village due to quite a few of the establishments closing around the time we got there, there was still plenty to do and experience, and especially Ushio seemed to enjoy her time there.

All in all, we had a great time on our last last day of being all together, but it had all left me very tired, and quite a few from our group felt the same. _I wonder if Sora will be up for going to bed a little earlier today…_ Just as I thought of my sister, the door to the bathroom opened, and Sora stepped out of it.

"Ah, Sora." I sat up on the bed and yawned as my sister closed the door behind her. "We sure had fun today, huh? I'm totally beat." I stretched a little, but stopped before I said anything else as I saw Sora simply standing in place in front of the bathroom door, her back turned to me. "Hm? Sora..?" _She went to the bathroom almost immediately after we returned here… She's not feeling ill, is she?_

"Haru..." Before I could voice my concerns, I heard Sora speak, though it was quiet, and she didn't quite sound like herself. _Sora..?_ Suddenly, I saw my sister trembling, and felt concern wash over me. Before I could move, however, Sora finally turned around, and for a brief moment, my breath was caught in my throat as I saw tears freely falling down Sora's cheeks. My panic quickly turned to confusion, though, as the tears were not the only thing I saw on my sister's face.

She was _smiling_. Wider than I had ever seen before.

"Sora..? What… Is something wrong..?" I looked my sister up and down, and saw that she was clutching something in her hands: a small box – looked like medicine, but I wasn't sure at this distance – and a white plastic _stick_ of some kind.

"Haru… Look..." Sora lifted up the plastic stick she was holding and presented it to me, taking slow steps towards me.

"What… is that, Sora?" My gaze flicked between my sister's face and the object in her hands. As she got closer, I could see that it had writing on it, reading out the words ' _Test_ ' and ' _Control_ ' in English, next to which I could see two horizontal lines, one of them a little paler than the other. _Wait… hold on… I-is that..!_

"It's a pregnancy test, Haru." Sora said, then lifted up the box she had been holding and flipping it. "The two lines mean that the test is positive."

"A… A _pregnancy_ test..? And… _positive_?" My sister nodded to me, while my brain was trying to piece together all the information it had just received. "But… That means..." Sora wiped her tears on her sleeve and nodded to me, then suddenly enveloped me in a hug.

" _I'm pregnant, Haru_." Sora whispered into my ear as she squeezed onto me. "With _your –_ my _twin brother's –_ child." Sora pulled away from me slightly so her face was directly in front of mine, her grey eyes staring deep into mine, and finally, all the gears in my head locked into place, and I felt an immense happiness wash over me.

"That's great news, Sora!" I let my voice out a little louder than expected, but I couldn't help it in this situation. "We… We actually succeeded… This is… I don't know what to say." Sora simply smiled at me, then leaned in to capture my lips with her own, and we shared a deep and passionate kiss together. _Sora is… my_ sister _is pregnant… Just a little while ago, this was just a wish of ours, but now it's becoming reality…_ After a little while, we separated, and Sora moved to sit in my lap. "When… When did you get your hands on the test?" I asked from my sister, not recalling any moment when she might have had a chance to acquire one.

"I asked Hideki to buy a set for me." Sora replied as she pulled her arm back and brought the box she was holding up to eye level for me to inspect. "Remember when he visited last weekend and we all went shopping together?" Memories rushed to my mind, and one particular scene stood out from amongst the rest.

"The vitamin D supplements." I said, and Sora nodded. "I wondered why that package looked so oddly-coloured back then, but didn't pay much attention to it..." As I looked over the box in Sora's hands, I now clearly recognized the shade of pink on it as the same one I had noticed on the 'vitamin supplements' Hideki had given to my sister last Saturday. _The sneaky devil. That was quite genius of him._

"The package came with two tests, and I did the first one that Saturday, in the bathroom of the parking lot, but it came up negative." Sora continued. _And that explains why she wanted to go the toilet after Hideki returned…_ "I'm… sorry I didn't tell you, Haru. I… wanted it to be a surprise." Sora looked away from me guiltily, but I simply shook my head at her and began to affectionately pat her head.

"Don't be, Sora. This was the best surprise you could have ever done." My sister met my eyes again and smiled. "To be honest… After you initially told me you might be pregnant, I was overjoyed, but even after you associated your frequent sickness with the possibility of being pregnant, I didn't even think it would _actually_ be the cause." _I was_ _too concerned about her well-being and completely forgot about the possibility of it being morning sickness._

"So… Do you want to celebrate the occasion, Haru?" Sora then asked as she reached out and placed the pregnancy test and its packaging on the nightstand.

"And how would we do that? Should we go tell Hikigaya, Yumiko-san and Yukinoshita-san?" Sora looked back at me blankly, then let out a sigh.

"No, not that kind of celebration. I mean the kind involving _just the two of us_." Suddenly, Sora had pushed me down on the bed and I found myself looking up at her lust-filled eyes. _Ah, I see._

"Well, since you're already pregnant… We might as well, right?" Sora licked her lips and began to undress herself, and I quickly took off my own shirt and pants as well, the two of us being completely naked within moments.

"And, while I'm not sure if false positives are even possible… We might as well make _extra sure_ I'm nice and pregnant." Sora leaned down and kissed me, her tongue hungrily invading my mouth as she straddled me, her hand trailing down my body towards my rapidly hardening member.

My sister and I exchanged saliva for a good while as she ground her crotch against mine, using her fingers to tease my tip until it was standing straight by her entrance, her already-wet folds brushing against it. I wasn't going to allow myself to be the only one feeling good, however, as I reached down with my right hand to play with Sora's clit, causing her to moan into my mouth in delight. Soon enough, Sora had to break the kiss, a string of saliva still connecting us as we gasped for air, my sister's face flushed red.

"Now… let's get started, shall we?" Sora said in a husky voice as she sat up straighter and lifted herself off me slightly, brushing her pussy on my member to lubricate it, before she lowered herself down in one swift motion, eliciting a moan from both of us. _I will never tire of this feeling, of being connected with Sora – with my twin sister – in a way unique to the two of us alone._

Sora didn't waste any time as she rode me with a steadily increasing tempo, and I reached up with my hands to play with her nipples, eliciting more moans of pleasure from my sister. _Sora is petite now, but as her pregnancy progresses… Not only will her belly swell with life, her chest will as well…_ In my mind, I pictured a pregnant Sora, and felt a tingling inside of me, almost bringing me to release then and there, the imagery _hotter_ and _sexier_ than I would have anticipated. _Is this… the awakening of a new fetish..?_

"What's with that look on your face, oh brother of mine? Are you going to cum already?" Sora said in a teasing tone as she leaned down, riding me with such speed now that a part of me was almost worried the slapping of flesh against flesh would be heard by anyone passing by our door.

"I was… just imagining you with a pregnant belly and… breasts swollen with milk." I replied with gritted teeth as I tried to hold back, being unexpectedly aroused at the idea.

"Is that so? Well..." Sora rested her head against my shoulder, flicking her tongue on my earlobe before whispering in my ear. " _Soon, you won't have to imagine that…_ Ahh!" Sora's words, followed by the heavenly feeling of her inner walls clamping and undulating around my shaft sent me over the edge, and I held onto my sister with all my might as I grunted and emptied my load inside of her, my tip lodged in her deepest parts, sending my seed directly into her already fertilized womb.

"Haah… Sora… That was..." I managed to say between breaths as I pumped Sora full, my orgasm feeling like it would never end.

"Ahahaa… You're right, the thought of me being pregnant with your child… It is quite hot..." Sora said as she collapsed on top of me, panting in the afterglow of her own orgasm.

After our shared release, we simply lied down on the bed, catching our breaths with my member still firmly stuck inside of my sister's pussy, a bit of my semen leaking from it. Shortly, I pulled my still-hard dick out of Sora, who rolled over on the bed to lie next to me, one of her hands going between her legs and the other resting on her lower abdomen. _That was… intense… And quick as well…_ After calming down a little, I turned my head to look at Sora, who smile at me and brought her face closer for a kiss. As our tongues gently brushed against each other, I moved my hand to rest on top of Sora's on her stomach. _Sora is pregnant with my child… I'm going to be a father._

We're _going to be parents._

"Haah… I don't think I can move for a while..." Sora said quietly once our kiss ended. "But, you know… The night is still young..."

" _...And I don't think this celebration will end until tomorrow morning."_

* * *

 **AN: Hoo boy, finally I'm finished! A big apology for how long this chapter took to come out. I had most of it fully planned, but getting sick really fucked up my schedule, as lying in bed for two full days with no energy whatsoever, and two more days spent hungry but without an appetite on top of that really doesn't give you the motivation to write. But, I managed to beat the sickness, and brought this chapter out for all of your viewing pleasures. This chapter is probably one of my favourite ones I've written for this story, and it would have originally been longer (with more things happening in the spa, possibly some meddling from Haruno), but with the length of it already exceeding what I normally write and the extreme delay in publishing it, I had to cut it a bit shorter. But worry not, for not much was lost, as I can easily insert the most important things I left out in the next chapter. Which definitely won't take as long as this did – unless I suddenly get ill again. I do have a week of holiday coming up, so I'll try my best to have a chapter out during it.**

 **Until next time, cheerio!**


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Hello, everyone! I am back with what is likely one of the final chapters for this fanfic. I have the ending (as well as the subsequent beginning of the sequel story) largely planned out, so now it's just actually getting to it and filling it out. My estimation right now is two or three more chapters, but we shall see how things play out, and what I end up writing. Could be five more chapters coming for all I know, lol.**

 **Now, let's get on with the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 21 – A Goodbye**

Voices in many different languages echoed everywhere around us as we stood in the middle of the clatter and clamour of the Rovaniemi airport. People walked about dragging their luggage with them, some were sat down on the numerous benches just behind us – many of them sleeping or eating – while others were exchanging both farewells and greetings with their friends and loved ones. The airport was not as big as the one down south in the capital city, Helsinki, where our flight had left us when we arrived, but all the lively hustle and bustle told just how popular this airport was as a location for both departing from and arriving at – Rovaniemi was not nicknamed the " _Capital of the north_ " for nothing, after all. But, we were not here for either of those things today – at least half of our group were not. No, today, Sora and myself, along with Harri, belonged to the group saying their farewells to our friends.

"I never was good with goodbyes, but… I hope we'll be able to see again in the future." The black-haired girl's grip on the handle of her travel bag tightened as her eyes darted between the three of us, as if unsure where she should be looking.

"Why do you have to be like, so gloomy about it? Just ignore her. I'll call you, Haru, once we've landed back home, alright?" The blonde standing next to her took a step forward and placed a hand on my shoulder, and I nodded in reply.

"Yeah, that sounds fine, Yumiko-san. I hope we can keep in touch after this." I said and glanced to my left at my sister, who smiled and nodded as well.

"Don't say you ' _hope_ ' we keep in touch. We _will_ keep in touch." Yumiko patted me on the shoulder and smiled, then moved in front of my sister, enveloping her in a hug, the sudden show of affection surprising Sora briefly, before she returned the older girl's hug. "I'll miss you, Sora."

"Don't say that, Yumiko-san, you'll make me feel bad." Sora replied, turning to look at me sheepishly. _Sorry, Sora. I don't think I'd be able to pry off Yumiko-san even if I wanted to._ As my sister and Yumiko hugged, Hikigaya – who Yumiko had dumped all of her luggage onto – walked over to me.

"I suppose I should probably give you my number as well, Haruka." Hikigaya said as he pulled out his phone, and I did the same.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt." Hikigaya turned his phone's screen towards me, currently displaying his contact information, and as I began to enter it into my contact list, I noticed what time it was. "Don't you need to get going soon? Your flight leaves at nine-thirty, right?" I asked and turned to look at Yukinoshita as I sent a quick message to Hikigaya, so he could save my number as well.

"We still have a little bit of spare time, but we shouldn't drag out the goodbyes for too long." Yukinoshita replied after glancing up at the large clock above the security check of the airport, then turned to Harri, currently standing to my right. " _Thank you again, Harri, for taking us here._ "

" _You don't have to thank me. I couldn't very well have you take a taxi after everything you've done for me._ " Harri replied in English with a smile.

" _You took all of our reports and feedback to your boss, then?_ " Yukinoshita asked, and Harri nodded to her in reply. _Yesterday, Harri came to each of us to collect feedback on our time here – this was all an 'experiment' he conducted, after all. Hopefully our work will improve the experience future tourists have when travelling here._

" _I did. I suspect he'll call me over today or tomorrow to review everything. Once again, thank you for your cooperation with this. Your reports were especially exceptional, Yukinoshita._ " In response, Yukinoshita shook her head, a small smile gracing her lips.

" _I didn't do anything special. I just like being thorough, is all_." She said, then turned to Yumiko and Sora as the former finally let go of my sister. "Are you ready to go yet, Miura-san? As I said, we shouldn't drag on these goodbyes for long." After she finished, I saw Hikigaya grinning a little, and he leaned closer to me to whisper in my ear.

" _She's not saying that because we're in a hurry, but because she herself is really bad with goodbyes._ " Hikigaya whispered, glancing at Yukinoshita as he paused briefly. " _If we stayed any longer, she might let the emotions she's holding back burst free._ " Now also looking towards the black-haired girl, I felt a smile growing on my face. _Yukinoshita-san ended up being_ _quite a bit_ _different to what my first impression had been…_ _And that is not a bad thing at all._

"Yeah yeah, I'm ready." Yumiko said as she took a step back from my sister, then stopped and shifted her gaze towards me. "...But first I need to give Haru a quick hug as well! Wouldn't want him to like, feel left out, right?" Yumiko grinned as she came closer to me, spreading her arms as she did.

"Eh? I-it's fine, Yumiko-san-" Before I could protest, Yumiko had closed the distance between us and caught me in her embrace. She hugged onto me tightly, her generous chest pressing against me and her blonde locks tickling my face, which I now felt heating up from embarrassment. Shifting my gaze towards my sister, I expected a look of jealousy, but was met with one of amusement instead, and I even heard a giggle from her. _I… guess it's good she doesn't get super jealous that easily any more, but… A part of me is worried about all the things she's learned from these girls..._

"Dummy. You should be grateful when a girl wants to hug you, Haru." Yumiko said as she pulled away, and I was indeed grateful – for the fact that the hug hadn't lasted as long as her hug with Sora had. "Besides, it's not _just_ Sora that I'll miss. I had such a great time with _both_ of you on this trip. We need to get together and like, hang out some time in the future, when you're both back home as well." Yumiko smiled at me, and for a moment, I felt myself getting lost in her beautiful olive-green eyes. _If I didn't already love Sora from the bottom of my heart… I could see myself falling for Yumiko-san._ I suddenly felt a hand clasping onto mine, and looked left to see Sora standing next to me, her gaze not meeting mine as she looked at Yumiko with a smile on her face.

"We will, Yumiko-san. There's not much to do there, but… You're always welcome in Okukozome." Sora said to the older girl, who nodded to my sister.

"We'll remember that offer, Sora." Yumiko replied, then turned to Yukinoshita, who had crossed her arms and was looking at the blonde with a look that said ' _Are you done?'_

"We'd… best get going, then." Hikigaya said, perhaps sensing the possibility of conflict between his two girlfriends. "See you, Haruka, Sora." Hikigaya met both mine and Sora's eyes in turn with his gaze, then looked towards Harri and gave him a nod, which he returned.

"Yeah, see you, Sora, Haru! Remember, I'll call you when we get home!" Yumiko said and waved as Hikigaya made his way over to the two girls.

"Goodbye, Sora-san, Kasugano-kun." Yukinoshita said with a smile and a small wave of her own. " _And goodbye to you as well, Harri. Thank you for being_ _our guide_ _on this vacation._ " Yukinoshita bowed to Harri, who – to our surprise – offered a bow of his own in return. Afterwards, Yukinoshita looked towards Sora and I and bit her lip, then took in a quick inhale of breath. "And… Good luck to you two with your relatives. I… hope everything goes well." I got the feeling Yukinoshita wanted to say something more, but I didn't press on the issue. _Hikigaya did say she was bottling up her feelings. While I normally would say that is a bad thing to do… She probably doesn't want to burst into tears in front of her friends. But, simply knowing she cares about us is enough for now._

" _Arigatou_ , Yukinoshita-san. We hope it all goes well, too." I replied to the black-haired girl, who gave me a small nod accompanied by a smile in return. "Goodbye, Yukinoshita-san, Yumiko-san, Hikigaya."

"I hope our next meeting will be sooner rather than later." My sister added with a wave, her other hand tightening its hold on mine.

" _Have a safe trip back home!_ " Harri said to the three of them in English, waving his hand in a broad arc. After a few moments passed, Hikigaya began to make his way away from us, and his two girlfriends followed after him, with Yumiko giving us one last glance over her shoulder as we still waved after them. Soon enough, the three of them disappeared into the crowd, though if I looked hard enough, I could still catch glimpses of them at the security check.

"So… I guess that's that, then." Sora said quietly, and I looked towards her to see my sister wiping the corners of her eyes with her free hand. I didn't have to guess what for, and I didn't blame her for it. _Yukinoshita-san and Yumiko-san – and Hikigaya to some degree as well, I guess – were the first real friends she's made in a long time,_ _so I'd say she's more than allowed to shed a few tears. Even I'm a little sad_ _that they've left us, but… There is always a tomorrow._

"We'll meet them again, Sora." I said, and as my sister turned to face me, I placed my right hand on her head and gently began to stroke it. "This isn't a final goodbye."

"I know that, Haru. Just..." Sora's looked up at me briefly, before letting her gaze fall as she scanned the crowds in the distance. "...I never knew something as simple as saying goodbye could be… _like this_." My sister bit her lip, her gaze still fixated on something in the distance.

"Goodbyes are always difficult. If you're agonizing this much over it, that just shows how much you care about them." Sora turned to look at me fully, allowing a small smile on her face as I lifted my hand away. _A month ago, I don't think either of us would have believed it possible for Sora to care that much for someone other than myself. Of course, I always hoped she could make friends, but that seemed like such a far-away possibility… until now._ Looking into the grey eyes of my sister, I felt a smile of my own growing on my face. "I'm really proud of you, Sora." I leaned in closer and gave Sora a quick kiss on the forehead, which caused my sister to freeze up as her cheeks became tinted red. Clearly, as we were in public, she had not expected such a thing from me.

"W-what was that for, Haru?" My sister grumbled and looked away from me, and a small chuckle left my mouth.

"For successfully coming out of your shell and making friends. Now you won't have just me to rely on." Sora glanced back at me briefly, but averted her gaze as soon as our eyes met. _Heh, she's still bashful about becoming just a little more social… She may have learned some teasing from Yukinoshita-san and Yumiko-san, but I picked up something along the way as well._ Mildly amused at my sister's agony, I turned to face Harri, who had been silently observing our exchange, and now smiled warmly at the two of us. _Harri knows at least some Japanese, so I'm sure he understood the gist of everything we've spoken of – both just now and before with the others._

" _Shall we get going back to the hotel?_ " Harri asked in English upon noticing the silence that had now befallen us. _It doesn't seem like he's thinking too much about the kiss. Europeans are more accustomed to more physical contact with their loved ones, after all, and he does know that Sora and I are close as siblings as well._ _I wonder_ _though_ _… How would he react if our true relationship was revealed to him..?_ " _We could pick up something to eat along the way. Or maybe there's somewhere you want to go?_ " Harri's gaze flicked between my sister and I, expecting an answer.

" _I'm not particularly hungry._ " I replied, then turned to Sora and raised an eyebrow, who, after a moment of thought, shook her head.

" _We have things planned with the Okazakis, so it's… probably best if we just head back._ " My sister said to Harri in English, who nodded to her in reply.

" _Alright, no worries._ _I know you've gone around the city so much already, but I was just wondering if there was still something you wanted to see._ _Let's start heading back then, shall we?_ " Harri pointed towards the exit with his thumb, and we both nodded to him.

The past few days had been mostly sunny, but today the weather was overcast, and the few puddles here and there told that it had rained during the night. And, looking up at the clouds as we stepped outside, it felt like it might rain again at any given moment. Without the sun out, the temperature was also noticeably chillier, but it was still warm enough that most people – including us – only wore light clothing, which in turn meant that if it did happen to rain, most would not be prepared for it. Harri said that it wasn't supposed to rain today until after midday, but as we didn't particularly fancy seeing how accurate the weather forecast had been, the three of us quickly made our way to Harri's SUV and began to make our way back to the hotel.

On Thursday, everyone had been together in the car, and it honestly had been a little cramped, but now with just Sora and I sitting in the row of seats directly behind Harri, the large vehicle felt almost _eerie_ with how empty it was. And it wasn't just empty physically, but also devoid of any chatter as well, though not in an awkward way. Sora and I didn't have anything to talk about, and Harri, while usually quite chatty, seemed to be content with just listening to the radio, if his rhythmic tapping on the steering wheel to the beat of the different songs was any indication. _I could use this time to call Hideki, I guess…_ _He knows pretty much all there is to know about our plans, but it would be nice to talk with him before we fly back home. Although, maybe it might be best to contact him in private, given that there is something very_ special _we have to tell him…_ Sora had taken the window seat, and I found my gaze wandering to her as she leaned against the window, silently watching the world pass by us. _Hideki will probably be overjoyed when he hears about Sora's pregnancy… We'd also be able to ask him for advice regarding how to come clean about everything to the Okazakis._ My attention was driven away for a moment as I noticed Harri turning up the volume on the radio, and while I didn't understand what was being said, I could tell it wasn't because his favourite song had just come on. _A news broadcast, perhaps? It sounds a bit like one…_

" _...It might get stormy by the evening, huh..._ " Harri said to no-one in particular, and I met his eyes as he briefly looked at the rear-view mirror. " _Let's hope it won't be as bad as the one that damaged Hideki's summer cottage, eh? That must have been rough for the two of you… Apart from that time, have you two enjoyed your time here? I've been meaning to ask it, since your vacation is coming to an end soon._ " Harri asked, perhaps finally feeling the need to make small talk, or perhaps simply because he was reminded of the topic.

" _Well, the storm wasn't much compared to the typhoons back home, though I guess living a bit more inland, we didn't experience the full brunt of many_ _of many of them_ _._ " I replied, and Sora turned to first look toward me, then at the front seat, though she could only see the back of Harri's head from her position. " _But, to answer, yes, we have enjoyed our time here._ _We've made so many great memories._ " Sora looked back at me and smiled, then nodded in agreement to my words. " _I've especially liked our time here. I've grown quite fond of this city._ " I looked out the window past my sister, though there wasn't much to see right now as we drove down the four-lane road towards the city proper. _The airport is a bit out of the way… Though I guess it makes sense, considering all the space it needs. And the public transport system works well here, so it isn't a big issue._

" _I hear lots of tourists praising Rovaniemi, but hearing it from you makes me just that extra bit proud. I'm glad you've been able to have fun in my home town, Haruka._ " Glancing at the rear-view mirror again, I caught Harri smiling, and I smiled right back at him. " _But, yes… Japan is situated in a very 'dangerous' place concerning natural disasters – going back to the topic of storms. I guess it does make you a hardy people, having endured it all for generations, so a measly storm like the ones we have here must feel like a gently breeze._ " Harri then continued with a slightly chuckle, before abruptly stopping himself. " _Sorry, was that in bad faith? I know you're still recovering from the earthquake earlier this year..._ "

" _Oh, you mean… The Tōhoku earthquake back in March?_ " Harri glanced at me again in the rear-view mirror and nodded to me. _It was the biggest earthquake to have ever hit Japan, and it happened around the time when…_ I could guess that Sora must have picked up at least something from our conversation and that her thoughts had gone in a similar direction to mine, as I felt her hand suddenly clasping onto mine. _I know Sora has mostly gotten over it already, but… This is not something one can just brush off that easily._ "... _It's fine, Harri. I don't take offence at your words. We were lucky enough to have not been at the forefront of the event, but we were still affected by it – everyone in the country was, one way or another._ " The earthquake was still affecting people to this day, and now that I thought about it, it was a little surprising the topic hadn't come up yet in any conversation with any of the people here with us. _I guess it's too gloomy of a topic to talk about on vacation… It might have even been part of the reason some of them came on this trip._

" _That's good to hear._ _It definitely sparked international interest. Everyone's gaze was suddenly turned in sympathy towards Japan,_ _and the rest of the world couldn't help but marvel at the efficiency in repairs and getting things back in order._ " _Harri is right. Despite the massive amount of damage, things seemed to back to normal relatively quickly._ " _Wasn't there some model who did a lot of work during the crisis? As in, work in order to contribute to the rebuilding and such. I remember reading_ _or hearing_ _something about her… She was in Australia at the time of the earthquake, I believe. Kawa… Kawashima, I think? Something along those lines._ " I lifted an eyebrow in question, though Harri couldn't see it currently. _A model?_ I tried to search my memory for anything related to what Harri had just said, but to no avail, and turned my gaze to Sora instead, who looked back at me curiously.

"You… obviously remember the earthquake back in March, right?" Sora nodded to me, but her expression told me she still didn't quite understand what I was getting at. "Do you remember anything about a model called Kawashima being in the news back then?" Sora's confusion seemed to only increase as I finished, and I almost felt like sighing. _Sora… probably doesn't. She's not really into fashion, I don't think. Yumiko-san might have known, though._

"No, I don't. What does this model have to do with the earthquake?" Sora asked from me in turn.

"Oh, Harri just mentioned her. Apparently, she did something to help with the rebuilding efforts, or something like that. Harri couldn't remember her that well, and I can't say I remember anything like that either..." I strained my memory again, trying to recall any news from back then, but nothing came up. _This was prior to our move to Okukozome as well, back when… our parents still lived. We had no worries in our lives back then, and we managed to make it through the disaster unscathed, so I didn't really pay much attention to things like the news or celebrities reacting to the disaster… Before the_ accident _, I really did take life f_ _or_ _granted, huh…_ Perhaps sensing my mood, Sora – whose hand was still grasping mine – squeezed onto me slightly, and I looked towards her to see a worried look on my sister's face. "Sorry, Sora. I'm fine." I said to my sister with a smile, who narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but then seemed to relax as I turned back frontwards and spoke to Harri. " _We can't remember anything like that, Harri. It would probably have been better to ask Yumiko-san, if this Kawashima was a model. Maybe even Yukinoshita-san might have known – she keeps up with the news, after all._ " Harri glanced at me again in the rear-view mirror, acknowledging my answer with a slight nod.

" _That's fine, it was just something I was wondering. It was quite a surprise that a celebrity like that reacted_ _the way she did_ _, so even western media covered it somewhat. I just can't put my finger on where exactly I heard of her… Well, it's no big deal._ " Harri replied to me, then seemed to quiet down a little as he focused on the road again.

We made small bits of conversation here and there on our way back to the hotel, but nothing too major or interesting. That isn't to say that I found it boring, quite the opposite, it was nice talking with Harri like this, though Sora couldn't really join in due to her lack of skills in English, so I wasn't sure what she thought of it. In any case, I couldn't help but feel a little melancholic, knowing that yet another thing I enjoyed about being here was soon coming to an end. Everyone else we would meet again (though meeting Mikami would be a rare occurrence, I figured), but Harri is someone we would likely never talk with again after returning, unless we came here on vacation in the future. And it's not just him. Both Hideki and Maria also belong in that category with Harri. At least we know that we would keep in touch with Hideki even after returning home, but with the time difference, it will be difficult to do so on a daily basis. _I really will miss all of them… I think we should definitely find a way to contact Maria again before we leave, if only to tell her that we'll be returning home._ _Maybe she could come see us off? Though, that might just be wishful thinking… Well, she should_ _at least_ _know_ _that_ _we'll be returning home, that's for sure._

Soon enough, we were back at the hotel, and the clouds seemed to be even darker than before, making it clear that it would rain today. We hadn't planned much with the Okazakis other than "hanging out", but we certainly wouldn't be leaving the hotel any time soon at this rate.

"Come on, Haru. Stop spacing out." My sister called out to me, and I turned to face her. We had just exited Harri's SUV, and I saw him looking at something on his phone just behind Sora. "Kyou-san and Tomoya-san might already be waiting for us."

"Well, if Tomoya-san hasn't gone back to sleep, that is." I replied, looking up at the clouds again briefly. _We all woke up early to say our goodbyes to Hikigaya, Yukinoshita-san and Yumiko-san, but Tomoya-san was clearly still tired when we left to see the three of them off at the airport – I wouldn't be surprised if he dropped back into bed the first thing after returning to their hotel room._ I felt myself smiling in amusement, and I turned back to Sora, now seeing Harri looking towards us.

" _Looks like my guess_ _earlier_ _was correct, Haruka, as I just got a message from my boss._ " Harri said once he had my attention, lifting up his phone as he did. " _I'll_ _have to l_ _eave you two now, so see you later!_ "

" _Alright. See you, Harri!_ " I raised my hand and gave Harri a small wave, while Sora simply smiled at him. After returning the gesture to me, Harri turned and began to briskly walk towards the entrance, first tapping away at his phone and then lifting it up to his ear all the while – likely calling his boss. "Let's head inside before we soaked, Sora." I said and turned to my sister, holding out my hand.

"I hope it doesn't rain all day, so we can actually go and do something." Sora said with a sigh as she took my hand, and we began to make our way inside as well.

"Hm? I would've thought you'd have liked if it rained, Sora, since then you'd have an excuse to just stay inside all day." I replied in a joking manner, though I was genuinely curious about why Sora would say that. _Before, it took a lot of work to just get her out of the house even for a little bit… I guess she's changed in more ways than one during this vacation._ In response, my sister hit my side with her elbow – hard enough to know she put force behind it, but not hard enough for it to hurt.

"Hmph. You're being awfully cheeky today, Haru." Hearing Sora's words, I let out a small chuckle, while she simply pouted.

"Sorry, Sora. These past two days I've just been so… _happy_ , because of… you know." I glanced at my sister, who smiled and gave me a nod that told me she understood. "You've been teasing me more recently, so I can't be blamed for wanting to have a bit of revenge, right?" As we arrived at the entrance to the hotel, we stopped briefly and I patted Sora on the head affectionately. "It'll be fine, Sora. Even if it rains, it's not like there's _nothing_ to do at the hotel. And, no matter what we end up doing, I'm sure we'll have fun with Kyou-san and Tomoya-san." I said with a smile, and my sister seemed momentarily surprised, but quickly regained her composure and smiled back at me, her hold on my hand tightening ever so slightly.

"When you say stuff like that, I can't help but believe you, Haru." Sora said with a sigh, before a smirk appeared on her face. "Oh, but you are right in that there is _definitely_ something we can do _together_." Suddenly, Sora grabbed onto me, bringing as much of her body into contact with mine as possible, leaving no questions as to what exactly she was referring to.

"There's no helping you, is there?" I asked and glanced around, then – reluctantly – separated a little from my sister, though I still kept a hold of her hand. "We'll… have to see about that. For now, though, we should just see if we can find Kyou-san and Tomoya-san, alright?" In response, Sora gave me a nod accompanied by a smile, and we headed inside the hotel.

* * *

"I can't see them anywhere… They must still be upstairs."

Having just stepped into the hotel lobby moments ago, Haru and I were expecting to see Kyou and Tomoya welcoming us back, but a quick scan of our surroundings told to us that the couple was nowhere to be found. It was still quite early, so there were few people around, only one of whom I recognized – Mikami, sitting alone at a table at the lobby bar with a laptop in front of him.

"Well, it's no use for us to be standing around here, then." I said to my brother and took a couple of steps forwards, gently attempting to pull him with me. "Let's go to their room, they're bound to be there."

"I can go check on them, Sora. You should wait here, in case we somehow pass by each other and they come down here to wait for us." Haru replied to me. _Hmm… Well, I guess he does have a point. They were going to wait for us to return at the lobby, after all._ "Also, we might as well have something to drink while we plan what we're going to do today, so there's no need for both of us to go upstairs if all we'll do is pick them up and come back down." Haru continued as he gestured towards the lobby bar.

"Fine, just don't make me wait, okay. I'll secure us some seats, I guess." I said to my brother, who nodded in reply. _It wouldn't have been that much of a hassle for me to come with him… Well, it doesn't really matter that much._

"Right, I'll be right back, Sora." Haru let go of my hand and began to make his way towards the lift, leaving me alone in the nearly-deserted lobby. _Securing seats won't be a problem, that's for sure…_

I started to walk towards the lobby bar, glancing around for a table big enough when my eyes landed on Mikami, who let out a yawn as he stretched, and our eyes met. A week ago, I would have been intimidated by the black-haired man, but after last weekend, I knew that under his shell, he was actually a relatively nice person. His eyes may have seemed to be set in a permanent glare, and his bluntness and impatience could come off as rude, but he didn't act that way on purpose. His career as a lawyer had hardened him, but deep inside, there was a gentleness to him, though he doesn't really know how to express it – at least, that's the image I got of Mikami, though with my people skills, that could be completely off the mark. Nonetheless, while I wouldn't consider either Haru or I to be particularly close to him, we were definitely closer with him than any of the others, so it would be rude to simply ignore him.

"Good morning, Mikami-san." I said as I walked up to Mikami, stopping just next to the table where he was sat down. _The table next to him might be big enough for us…_

"Morning. So, you're back already? I thought I saw Harri returning just a moment ago. You saw the three of them off, then?" Mikami asked as he shifted in his seat to look at me.

"Yes, we did. I'll… miss them, but we promised to meet up as soon as possible when Haru and I have returned home as well." I replied, then shifted my gaze to his laptop. _Is that his own one?_ _I think I saw it in his room last weekend… Though, I didn't really have a chance to look that well back then._ "Are you writing something?" I asked and pointed at Mikami's laptop, but didn't try to peek at the screen – Mikami valued his privacy, after all.

"I almost wish I was." Mikami replied with a slight smile. "I sometimes write on the computer, but I find it easier to write on paper. Let's my thoughts flow more freely. This here is… Well, for my work, to put it simply. Since I'm heading back on Monday – we'll be on the same flight, right? Since you two will return together with the Okazakis?" Mikami interrupted his own explanation as he looked at me questioningly, and I nodded to him in reply. "Yes, it seems I remembered correctly, then. Anyway, since I'll be returning home soon, I'm reviewing the things I have to do when I get back, and checking for any emails I've gotten during my vacation. I'd describe myself as a workaholic, but even I like keeping work and play separated, so to speak." As Mikami finished, he glanced towards the counter briefly, before turning back to me. "Would you watch my laptop while I go get something? I doubt anyone would try to steal it here, but… You can never be too careful."

"Oh, sure, I can do that." I said as I took another step forward, now standing next to Mikami as he was still sat down, and upon seeing a glimpse of Mikami's laptop screen, a random thought entered my head. "Do you… mind if I use it briefly? If you don't have anything important on it right now, that is." Mikami lifted an eyebrow in question, then shrugged.

"Sure, be my guest. I already replied to all of my emails." Mikami said as he closed the email program and opened the internet browser, sitting up from his seat as he did. "I trust you won't do anything questionable?"

"I just want to look up something. I'll probably be done before you even get back." I replied, and Mikami nodded to me, then started walking towards the counter. _It's not even that important, just… I get the feeling it's going to bug me if I don't do it._

As Mikami hadn't explicitly denied it, I took the seat he had occupied mere moments ago and began to type into the search engine. _Kawashima… The name doesn't say anything to me, but if she was in the news back during the earthquake, she must be someone important._ _I don't really care for celebrities, but I don't want to made fun of if knowing about her is common knowledge… Hmph, look at me. Since when did I start caring about what other people think of me? Well… I guess ever since I got to know everyone here… Haah, social relationships are so hard, but… I'm not disliking them._ I smiled slightly to myself, then began to scan through the search results, flicking through the different pages with efficiency only obtained through being an experienced shut-in. _Kawashima… Anna? Is that her? But she's an actress, not a model… She does have a daughter though._ Quickly finding a page with information regarding the actress' daughter, Ami, I could now see why she hadn't appeared in the main search results.

Her name wasn't Kawashima any more, as she was _married_ , and was now known under the surname _Takasu_.

If I had narrowed down the search results, or looked for older information and news articles, I would have likely found this sooner. _She's been married for quite a while, and even has a child, but she was still_ _publicly_ _known by her old name for some time… Ah, here's something about her during the earthquake._ While the earthquake and the following tsunami had ravaged Japan back in March, the model had been in Australia, but had made a swift return with her husband and colleagues, after participating in concerts meant to bring attention to the crisis and give people hope, to tell them there was something they could do, and that there was a tomorrow. While initially there had been criticism, their actions were praised soon enough, and it had given them quite a popularity boost. I didn't really get how much of an impact a concert held somewhere else could make, but judging by what I read, it was all admirable work. _I guess I can't judge her, she did what she could, unlike a lot of people._ Now looking through various pictures of the blue-haired model – who wasn't that much older than I was – I felt a slight jolt of guilt going through me, remembering how all we could do back during the crisis was hide away and wait for everything to return to normal. _Like Haru said to Harri, we live inland so_ _got through it all with little damage, but we also really couldn't do anything…_ As the negative thoughts swirled inside of me, I suddenly froze upon coming across a certain photo of the model that took my breath away momentarily.

In the photograph, she was wearing a beautiful dress I had never seen the likes of before. Linking arms with her stood a tall man with an equally-astounding suit, and while his _sanpaku_ eyes **[1]** looked scary at first, the broad smile on his face countered their effect. A similar, though smaller smile was present on the model's face as well, and their happiness was clear to see. This was no doubt a photo from their _wedding_.

"That's a nice dress. Looks quite expensive as well." I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden voice, and jerked my head towards its source to see Mikami looking down at the laptop screen over my shoulder with a cup of coffee in one hand and a sandwich in the other. "Hm? Sorry, did I surprise you?"

"A-ah, it's fine. Yes… it is a pretty dress." I said quickly and looked back the photograph. _A wedding…_ _It would be nice if Haru and I could get married, but I think that might be too much to ask…_

"Isn't she..." Hearing Mikami's voice again, I turned to see Mikami intensely looking at the photograph displayed on the laptop screen. _Is he..? Oh, right. Mikami-san has really good eyesight, doesn't he? He can probably see the picture well even from a bit of a distance._ "...The daughter of that one actress? Kawashima Anna?"

"Yes, she is, though she goes by the name Takasu Ami ever since her wedding. Harri and Haru were talking about something or other on the way back, and Haru asked me about her, but I didn't know anything about her." I explained as I scrolled back up away from the pictures, and Mikami nodded to me.

"I thought I recognized her. I've seen quite a few of her mother's movies, and… Well, I guess you could say I'm a fan." Mikami said as he placed his cup on the table and sat down on the only other chair at the table to my right. "There was quite a bit about her in the news earlier this year, back when that earthquake happened." Mikami bit into his sandwich, and I closed the browser, moving the laptop slightly in his direction to indicate I was done using it.

"Yeah, that's what they were talking about when Harri brought her up. I thought that while I had the chance and the idea was fresh in my head, I might as well look her up." I leaned back in the chair slightly and glanced towards the lift, half-expecting for its doors to open and Haru returning together with Tomoya and Kyou, but they stayed closed. "Where were you when the earthquake happened?" I decided to ask Mikami, feeling that the silence would soon get awkward if I didn't say anything to continue the conversation. _And now I'm making small talk… I'm becoming more and more like Haru, it seems… Then again, isn't there a saying about lovers becoming similar to each other over time?_

"I was in Tokyo when it happened, and managed to get out of it without any harm. The north-eastern shores took the majority of the damage. I guess one could say that I got lucky, as I was on my way to Sendai, so had the earthquake happened a day later… Well, I might not be here." Mikami said and took a sip from his coffee cup, shifting his gaze to meet mine. "Are you waiting for your brother here, by the way?" Mikami suddenly changed the subject, perhaps not wanting to continue with the dreary conversation any longer – which I didn't blame him for.

"Yes. We had planned to spend time with the Okazakis today, and since they weren't down here, Haru went up to see if he could find them. He said I should stay behind in case they come here while he's gone, so here I am." Mikami nodded to me in reply, then closed the lid on his laptop, pulling it in front of him.

"I see. I don't suppose you're planning on going outside with that weather? It's going to rain today." Mikami gestured towards a window, and I shook my head at him.

"We don't have anything specific planned, but we likely won't. Haru reassured me that there would be things we can do at the hotel, but… I feel it might still get boring." I leaned against the table and let out a sigh, lazily kicking my feet under the table. _Haru was right that normally… or rather,_ before _, I would have taken any excuse to just stay inside without going anywhere, but now? I would much rather go out and…_ do stuff _with… with my friends. I want to talk about girly things with Yumiko-san_ _and Yukino-san_ _, and get parenting advice from Kyou-san,_ _or even just babysit Ushio._

"Well, whether or not it will be boring will be up to you. I'm sure you kids can figure out something fun to do." Mikami said, and I shifted my gaze to him as he quickly wolfed down his sandwich and followed it up by drinking the rest of his coffee in one go. "It was nice talking with you, Sora, but I'll take my leave now. I'll be up in my room if you or your brother want to talk some more." Mikami gave me a small smile as he stood up, then pointed at something behind me as he picked up his laptop. Lifting my head to turn towards whatever he pointed at, I immediately felt a smile appearing on my face as I saw the people approaching, and was about to tell Mikami he could stay with us if he wanted to, but that smile disappeared almost instantly as I realized why Mikami was all of a sudden in such a hurry.

"Yahhallo, Sora-chan!" Yukinoshita Haruno shouted out once my eyes landed on her, with Haru, Tomoya, Kyou and Ushio following slightly behind her. _Euughh… I almost forgot she was here… Now I'm suddenly wishing it was Monday already…_ "Ah! And it's Mikami-san as well. Are you leaving? Why don't you stay here with us?"

"Sorry, but no. There's something I need to go do." Mikami said as he walked past Haruno, briefly looking at Haru as he passed by him. _I wish I could just walk away from Yukinoshita Haruno like that… Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury._

"Wasn't that a little rude?" Haruno asked once Mikami was out of hearing range, glancing between the rest of us. "What were you two talking about before we arrived?" Haruno fixated her gaze on me, and I briefly looked towards my brother, who offered an apologetic look in return as he took the seat Mikami had occupied.

"Nothing much. We talking a bit about the earthquake that happened earlier this year. But what I would like to ask from you, Haruno-san, is what _you're_ doing here." Haruno looked back at me with confusion, then smiled.

"I happened to run into these guys on their way here, and decided to tag along. There's no fun in staying cooped up in my hotel room, I'd much rather spend that time with all of you~!" Hearing Haruno's words, I almost wanted to vomit knowing that I had just thought something similar mere moments ago. "But, you were talking about the Tōhoku earthquake in March? That's kind of surprising. I remember being in Kyoto back then and immediately calling Yukino-chan back in Chiba once I heard the news. Luckily, we all survived without a scratch, but it was still a scary time." Haruno continued and looked towards Kyou and Tomoya, who had taken a seat with Ushio on the table next to the table I was sitting at.

"Yeah, it was definitely scary. Hikarizaka is located inland, so we weren't directly affected by the earthquake and tsunami, but a couple of my work colleagues were in Natori when the tsunami hit, and ended up hospitalized." Tomoya said, and I could see that recalling the events was not pleasant for him, and suddenly felt bad for bringing it up in the first place.

"Tomoya, why don't we get something to drink? I know at least you could do with a coffee." Likely sensing her husband's mood dropping slightly, Kyou changed the subject as she placed a hand on top of Tomoya's and smiled at him, then shifted her gaze to me. "Do either of you want something, Sora, Haruka?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thanks." My brother replied and now also looked towards me.

"I don't need anything either, Kyou-san." I said, and after a moment, Kyou nodded to me.

"I can buy you two something, Haru, Sora." Haruno offered with a smile as Kyou, Tomoya and Ushio stood up from their seats. _No, you don't have to. Being indebted to you is the last thing we want._ "Come on, anything you like."

"Thank you for the offer, Haruno-san, but..." My brother started, briefly glancing at me before returning his gaze to Haruno. "...We really don't need anything. Besides, we've got our own money, so it wouldn't do good to have others pay for us." I nodded as Haru finished, deciding that it was probably for the best to just put up with Haruno for now. Haruno silently eyed by brother for a few seconds, then took a seat at the table next to ours, angling her seat so she was facing us.

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that. Not _leeching_ off others all the time is key for keeping it _profitable_ in the long run. You wouldn't want people to catch on, now would you?" Haruno wore a sinister smile on her face, and her words made me feel angry. _Don't tell me she's actually believing those delusions of hers…_

"...What do you want, Haruno-san? I don't get what you're aiming for by falsely accusing us with that." Haru said to her in a low voice, while Haruno simply stared at him in silence for a few seconds, before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Why don't we talk for a little bit, just the three of us? That's all I want, you don't have to be so hostile with me, Haru." In response to her question, my brother let out a sigh.

"We were planning on spending this day together with the Okazakis, as we'll be packing tomorrow and won't have as much time. You're free to join us, Haruno-san, but I would ask of you to not spread any misinformation." Haru said and crossed his arms, pausing for a moment before continuing. "What do you want from us, Haruno-san? I know you said all those things about wanting to find out what we're supposedly keeping secret from you, but is there any other reason as to why you're pestering us so much?"

"..." Haruno stayed quiet, her expression unmoving. "...Are you implying that I am an annoyance to you two?" She then asked, keeping her gaze fixated on Haru.

"Yes, yes you are." I replied, and Haruno's rose-coloured eyes shifted their focus onto me.

"Such a sharp tongue… You know, I believe I have said this before, but Hikigaya-kun and Yukino-chan owe a lot to me, and they don't appreciate it all enough, so you shouldn't accept everything they've told about me as fact. And I do genuinely care for my cute little sister and future brother-in-law, you know." Haruno's smile widened ever so slightly, and her expression seemed to _soften_ a little, though I couldn't tell how much of it was an act. "As for what I want from you two..." Haruno's gaze moved away from me for a moment, before she continued in a lower tone. "...You two are simply _interesting_ to me. But, to give an answer… I want to know what you two have going on beneath the surface." Mixed feelings of both dread and anger welled up inside of me, but I managed to restrain myself. _Just stay calm. Don't let her get the upper hand._ "So, are you two okay with orange juice? I'll get you both a separate straw~!" In a flash, Yukinoshita Haruno's demeanour had changed completely as she stood up suddenly and began to walk towards the counter, from where Kyou, Tomoya and Ushio has just arrived from, carrying drinks in their hands.

"Hm? Is something wrong, Sora? You look troubled." Kyou asked as she set down her own drink on the table, and I let out a sigh, glancing at my brother, who seemed to also relax for a moment.

"I'm okay, Kyou-san. Talking with her just drains all of my energy." I replied and leaned on the table again.

"Ah… Well… Haruno-san is a bit lively, I guess..." Kyou said as she looked towards the younger woman in the distance. _If only it was_ _simply that…_ "But, maybe we can figure out a way to have some fun together today. That's what we came down here for, right? Now we've just got an extra person to join in on the fun."

"I guess..." I let my gaze wander over to Yukinoshita Haruno as she made her order at the counter. _Yukinoshita Haruno… What is she playing at here exactly? There's no real reason for her to do all of this with nothing to gain, and yet she's so insistent on finding about mine and Haru's secrets. If it's simple curiosity, like she says, then she is taking it way too far. But, that seems to be just the way she is._ Haruno briefly glanced back towards us, and as our eyes met, she smiled that fake smile of hers that made me uneasy.

 _According to Hikigaya-san, she'll play with us until we're no longer of interest to her, but the only way for her interest to end is for her to find out about our relationship – and that is something we can't allow to happen. As much as I would want to simply take Haru and kiss him in front of her and tell her to buzz off, in her case, it would likely do more harm than good. She knows we're hiding something from her, so she's using that to try to trap us so that either she'll find out what we're hiding, or that we reveal it to her ourselves… Yukinoshita Haruno is truly terrifying. But even more than terror…_

 _...she makes me angry._

* * *

 **AN: And that's a wrap. I blame the delay of this chapter on the quarantine. It may have given me more free time, but it did also completely fuck up my already messed-up sleep schedule to the point where my circadian cycle is screaming in agony and confusion. In other words, I'm having a wonderful time! At least I kept my promise about this one coming out sooner than the chapter before it, so yay for that.**

 **As I said at the beginning, this is one of the final chapters, and I will try to get the next one out sooner. I end up saying it in pretty much every chapter, so at one point it's bound to happen, right? Once I get a hold of my daily schedule again, I'll be in a much better position to write, so you can hopefully look forwards to that!**

 **Now, I bid you all farewell, and see you in the next one!**

 **[1] _Sanpaku eyes_** **is a Japanese term that refers to a condition where the sclera (white of the eye) is clearly visible either above or below the iris. In the east, sanpaku eyes are believed to be linked with things such as drug or alcohol addiction when the sclera is visible beneath the iris, and with psychological problems when it is visible above it. JFK and Michael Jackson are examples of people who had the condition, and it is also a common trope in Anime, where it is usually used to make a character more "intimidating", though it also depends on the art style whether a character can be considered to have the condition or not.**


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Hello and welcome back, dear readers! Self-isolation is still going strong, but at least I've got video games, Anime and writing. Oh, and I guess online classes too, but who cares about those, right?**

 **I finished the last chapter when it was already past midnight and I was just about ready to pass out, so I forgot to add something to the AN at the end of the chapter – a note about one of the references I made in the previous chapter. Many of you likely noticed it and understood it as a reference (and I know at least one of you lot correctly knew where it was from), but there was something "special" about this particular reference. You see, usually I make references towards either real things, or to other forms of media – usually Anime. And as you know, I do also like to twist things slightly to fit my own narrative, as I have done with the backstories of the crossover characters this story features. This time, however, I did something a little different – I referenced another fanfiction. And not just any fanfiction, but probably my favourite fanfiction that I have ever read. I am, of course, talking about the simply sublime story based on Toradora, written by the fantastic Mark629 – _Walk the Same Path_. If you're a fan of Toradora, you've likely already heard of it, but if you haven't, I highly recommend reading the two parts that the fic is composed of. The story is so fantastic that it's become my own headcanon for the series – thus the reason why I chose to use it when making the reference. If I were to praise it any further, this AN would become overly long, so I'll simply leave it as it is with this shout-out.**

 **That turned into a bit of a ramble, but I felt I had just had to give a shout-out to the fanfiction I made a reference to. Now, without any further delays, let's get back to the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 22 – Final Confrontation**

"Hmmm… How about the karaoke bar? I'm pretty sure I've seen it once or twice while we've been here. Oh, and we could book the sauna as well at the same time. Should we go ask Harri if someone's reserved it already?" Tomoya glanced between each of us, looking for approval to his suggestion.

"That _is_ a surprisingly good idea coming from you, Tomoya, but there are some problems with it." Kyou was the first one to reply, crossing her arms as she began to list out the issues with her husband's plans. "Firstly, both the karaoke bar and the sauna open late, so we would still have to figure out what to do during the day. Secondly, I hope you haven't forgotten about your daughter, have you? This would likely go on past her bedtime. And finally, she isn't the only one who needs sleep. We have lots of packing to do tomorrow in preparation for Monday. Plus, I know for a fact that the sauna has separate areas for men and women." Kyou gave a sharp look to her husband as she finished, which caused Tomoya to flinch.

"I-I don't know what you're suggesting with that final point." Tomoya huffed as he crossed his own arms, then let out a small sigh. "...But I can't refute your other points, though..." Tomoya looked to his daughter, who had been silently observing her parents while drinking some juice.

"It's fine, daddy. I'm a big girl now, so I can stay up later so you and mommy can do kare… karo... _karaoke_." Ushio said with a confident expression, and Kyou began to gently pat her head.

"That is true, Ushio, but you're also a good girl, are you not?" Ushio thought for a moment, then nodded at Kyou. "And good girls go to bed early to not upset their parents." Ushio looked dejected for a moment, but then shook her head and looked at Kyou with confidence again, to which she replied with a smile, before turning back to Tomoya. "So, any other great ideas, Tomoya?" Kyou's husband thought hard for a few moments, but couldn't seem to come up with anything significant.

"Hmmm… If I'm not mistaken, the hotel has a gym as well… Getting some exercise could be… good?" Kyou narrowed her eyes while Tomoya simply looked back at her with confusion.

"Tomoya… Are you suggesting I need to lose weight?" Tomoya froze under Kyou's cold voice, instantly realizing what his words might be interpreted as and regretting ever letting them out of his mouth.

"N-no! I-I just thought you might like it since we didn't get to play much sports at the sports centre we went to on Thursday!" Tomoya tried to defend himself, shrinking under Kyou's glare, and I heard a slight giggle from the seat next to me.

Turning to its source, I saw Sora smiling with a hand over her mouth as she observed the situation between the married couple unfolding before her. Seeing my sister so happy brought a smile of my own to my face. _If only we could spend just a little longer here… But all we can do now is to make the most out of the time we have._ I turned back to look at Tomoya and Kyou and watched their exchange with amusement. _With them around, it definitely won't be boring… Maybe we could convince Mikami-san to join us as well? Though, for that, we'd need to get rid of_ her _first…_ I shifted my gaze to the person sitting opposite to the Okazakis, and she met my gaze with her own immediately, a small smile appearing on her face as she did.

"Hm? That's a nice thoughtful look, Haru… Have you figured out anything fun for us to do today?" Haruno asked from me, resting her head on her hands as she leaned towards me slightly. _I wouldn't usually think of anyone – let alone a woman – like that, but… Yukinoshita Haruno has definitely earned it with her behaviour._

"Sorry, but not really. Kyou-san and Tomoya-san have been here longer than we have, so I was hoping they'd be more familiar with what the hotel has to offer. We'd be fine with anything, really, even if it's just hanging out." I glanced briefly at my sister, who nodded in affirmation to my statement. "Though, the sauna does sound like it could be nice. I enjoyed the one at the spa the other day, but I'd imagine the one here will be completely different." _I can imagine it being 'fancier' in a way, considering one has to reserve it in advance… I would very much like to see it._

"I guess we could go and reserve it for the evening to relax before bed." Kyou chimed in, and her husband nodded along with her.

"But it might get a little lonely on the men's side with just me and Haruka… Maybe you could ask Mikami-san to join us?" Tomoya asked as he looked at me, bringing the others' attention to me as well.

"I'm sure he'd happily accept. Harri could join us as well, if he's allowed to, that is." I replied to Tomoya. _I would like to think he could, like he did back at the spa, but… Since he is an employee here, I doubt it._

"Well, that's our plans for the evening set, I guess?" Kyou said and scanned the rest of us with her gaze, stopping at Haruno as she raised an eyebrow, then got a nod and a smile from the younger woman in return. "We'll need to ask Harri about a reservation, then… But, we still need to think of something to do before that. The weather is only going to get worse, so going outside isn't really an option, and unfortunately… Well, most of the hotel's recreational activities are evening-focused, so I'm afraid that to my knowledge, there's not much to offer, Haruka." Kyou turned to look at me, her expression giving me the impression she wanted to say ' _sorry_ ' to me.

"That's fine, Kyou-san. As I said, we're okay with just hanging out like this." I said to Kyou with a smile, which she returned to me. "And, besides, that's just another bit of feedback to give to Harri, right?"

"Hmmm… I guess you're right. I can understand why the hotel doesn't have much in the form of daytime activities, as most tourists would rather spend their days out sightseeing, but it would be good to have something to do at the hotel other than just have a drink or sit around in one's hotel room." Kyou said as she look upwards in thought, then turned to look at Haruno. "Do you have any suggestions? Seems all we've got so far is hanging out at the hotel, but we might run out of things to talk about if we just do that all day until evening." In response, Haruno straightened her posture somewhat and rested her hands on the table.

"Well, first of all, I am all for reserving the sauna for this evening. Yukino-chan is not here any longer, but I'm sure we can have fun with just the three of us girls. Right, Sora-chan?" Haruno said and shifted her gaze to my sister, who lifted her own to meet Haruno's rose orbs. _Did she intentionally leave out Yumiko-san? The two of them seemed to get along relatively fine, though I don't know if that was all just a part of Haruno-san's act._

"...Yes, I'm sure of that as well." Sora replied after a moment of silence, her tone neutral. She didn't want to antagonize Haruno with Kyou and Tomoya around.

"I'm glad you agree with me, Sora-chan." Haruno said with a smile, then turned back to Kyou. "As for other ideas for things we could do… I'm not against just spending time like this, but you are correct in saying that it would get boring at some point. I find myself doubting that it would rain for the entire day, however, so I'm sure will get the chance to go out at some point." Haruno gestured towards the windows with a hand, then leaned to the side to rest her head on it. "...Then again, there isn't much that _I_ haven't seen already, apart from a cafe or two." Haruno's tone of voice and expression gave me the impression she was bored, but it was gone quickly as her cheerfulness returned. "Well, that's something we can see about doing later in the day, if the rain lets up. In the meantime, staying at the hotel and just chatting like this will be of no issue."

"That could definitely be a plan… Say, didn't you two go to that one cafe with Yukinoshita-san and the others some time ago?" Kyou asked as she turned to Sora and I with a raised eyebrow.

"You mean… Coffee House? The one at the square that's up the hill towards the downtown area?" Kyou nodded to me in reply. _Oh, of course I remember going there. That was the day I gave Sora the ring, after all._ I found my gaze wandering to Sora's hands, but couldn't see her wearing the ring – she had left it in the hotel room, after all. "Yes, we did. It was quite a nice place." I glanced at Sora briefly, who nodded along with me, a small smile on her face. "We could… Go there if the rain lets up?"

"That's what I was thinking. Tomoya and I visited it once before, and I liked the atmosphere. Have you been there yet, Haruno-san?" Kyou turned to Haruno inquisitively, who shook her head in reply.

"I haven't had the chance, no. I did hear Yumiko-san praising the place, though, so checking it out if the weather clears up sounds like a splendid idea to me." Haruno replied with a smile, then brought her cup to her lips, seemingly drinking the rest of its contents in one go. "I get the feeling we'll be sticking around here for some time, so I'll go get myself a refill. Anyone want anything?" Haruno let her gaze scan over each of us as she stood up, and we all shook our heads in reply to her inquiry. "Alright then. I'll be right back." Haruno smiled, letting her gaze linger on Sora and I for a brief moment, before starting to make her way back to the counter. _A refill, huh…_ I shifted my gaze down to the glass of orange juice Haruno had bought for us despite both Sora and I being against it, the two straws in the glass having slid next to each other as we had barely drank from it at all. _Haruno-san must be planning to do something, even Hikigaya thought as much… I should try to relax and enjoy this day with Kyou-san and Tomoya-san, but_ _I'm constantly anxious about her._

"What's with the face, Haruka? Something on your mind?" I heard Tomoya asking from me, and I turned to face him, letting out a small sigh as I did. _I shouldn't worry them – they've already agreed to helping us so much._

"It's nothing important, Tomoya-san." I replied with a smile, glancing briefly at my sister, who gave me a knowing look. She was likely just as anxious about Haruno as I was. "Just… some things causing a bit of anxiety, but nothing to worry about. We dedicated this day to having fun, right? I wouldn't want to spoil that."

"Is this… about your relatives?" Kyou asked with a bit of concern in her voice, and I glanced at my sister again, meeting her eyes with my own.

"Partly, yes. But, as I said, you don't need to worry about right now, Kyou-san. We can talk more about that tomorrow." Kyou looked at me silently for a few moments, then nodded with a smile. _And we'll have the entire flight to plan as well. Hopefully we'll be able to get some more help from Mikami-san during it, as he'll be returning on the same flight as we are. We still don't know if our aunt and uncle will be there to 'welcome' us back – we're not even sure if they know we're coming back on Monday – but if Hideki has managed to reach them, then it's likely they will be waiting at the airport. And for that, we'll need to be ready._

"...If you say so. Just remember that we are here for you, Sora, Haruka." Kyou said as she smiled warmly at us. "You don't need to worry about everything on your own."

"We do, Kyou-san." Sora replied before I could, and I nodded with her. "And we… really appreciate it. Thank you." My sister smiled at the older woman, and I reached out and placed my hand on top of hers. _I'm glad we had the chance to meet Kyou-san and Tomoya-san. And I know Sora feels the same way._

"Well, isn't this a sweet display." The moment was interrupted by Haruno returning, and Sora very briefly scowled upon hearing her voice again, but quickly composed herself. "You know, I'm kind of jealous of how close you two are. Yukino-chan and I used to be quite close when we were young, but as she's gotten older, she's only gotten colder and colder towards me." Haruno said with a sigh as she sat down, taking a sip from her refilled cup. _Yukinoshita-san has told us about this very thing. She started to keep her distance because she realized what kind of person her sister was. She also began to distance herself from the rest of her family around the same time – though she never went too far. They were her family, after all._ "Oh, yeah, don't you have a twin too, Kyou-san? I remember you mentioning her." Haruno asked as she now turned to Kyou.

"Yes, I do – Ryou. Despite being twins, we're… quite different." Kyou replied with a small, awkward laugh.

"That's right. Ryou-chan is timid and cute, while Kyou is violent, aggressive, shouty, violent, dangerous, bossy, violent..." Tomoya started to – jokingly, I guessed – list out his wife's negative points, but unfortunately for him, Kyou didn't seem that amused by it, judging by the death-glare she was sending his way.

"Tomoya..." Kyou's hands were balled up into fists, and it seemed like she might have been able to break through the table she was pressing them up against with just sheer willpower alone. On the other side of the table, Tomoya flinched back as he realized his mistake, quickly lowering his head in a bow.

"I-I apologize, Kyou-sama! I obviously meant that you are beautiful, strong, reliable and… and… beautiful!" Tomoya meekly glanced up at his wife, who let out a sigh as she leaned back in her chair, all the while a small giggle escaped Sora's mouth. _Well, looks like Tomoya-san managed to save his hide._

"...That's all the compliments you could come up with on the spot? Whatever. Anyway, as I was saying before my husband interrupted me..." Kyou shifted her gaze back to Haruno, clearing her throat to get rid of the exasperation in her voice. "Ryou and I are quite different, but we've always been really close as siblings. Though… I guess in the end we weren't _that_ different, considering we both fell for the same guy..." Kyou sent a brief glance to Tomoya, who was now entertaining Ushio, seemingly not paying attention to what she was saying to Haruno. _Yes… I've heard them speak about this before – how both Kyou-san and her sister developed a crush on Tomoya-san during their high school years, but he ended up together with Nagisa instead._ "I haven't spoken with Ryou in a while, though… We only had a brief phone call before we left on this trip..." Kyou looked off into the distance in thought, and Haruno turned her attention to us.

"Family is very important, wouldn't you say?" Haruno asked from us, but didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "Come to think of it, you two don't have much family left, do you?" Sora raised her gaze to meet Haruno's as she looked at the two of us with a smile. _That was… quite rude._

"It is true that Sora and I only really have each other, yes. We were never really close with our aunt and uncle, and they're the closest relatives we have." I kept my irritation at Haruno's choice of words to myself and answered as neutrally as possible. _What is she playing at here..?_

"Yes, very unfortunate, that. Losing your parents must have been horrible." Haruno paused as she took a sip of her drink, and I glanced at Sora, who raised her eyebrow at me. _She already knows all of this, though…_ "They died in a traffic accident earlier this year, right?" Looking back at Haruno's expectant gaze, I gave her a slow nod in response, noticing that Kyou was now looking at our exchange with confusion. "I wonder… You said that used to live in one of the major cities before moving to that tiny village of yours. Were your parents buried there? Or perhaps they were cremated?" Sora's eyes widened briefly, before she narrowed them and spoke in a low voice.

"...Why would you want to know that? It's none of your business." My sister put as much venom in her voice as she could, and this wasn't left unnoticed by the rest of us – though Haruno seemed oblivious to it. I kept my cool, trying to figure out what Haruno was trying to do. _It couldn't simply be because she wants to go and leave flowers at their grave or something, right? No, she has to be up to something here…_

"Well, I figured that if you said that your parents were cremated… That would make this… _con_ of yours easier. It is easier to fake a jar of ashes than it is a gravestone, after all." Haruno leaned forwards, the tone of her voice changing as she kept staring directly at Sora and I. _Is she… Seriously..?_ I felt Sora grasping my hand with her own, and looked to see her glaring at Haruno with all the animosity she had.

"What… are you talking about, Haruno-san?" Kyou asked, her confused gaze flicking between Haruno, Sora and myself.

"Hm? Oh, I thought you were sharp, Kyou-san." Haruno said as she spared a glance at the older woman, but quickly returned her eyes to us. "Doesn't it all seem just… a little _too_ convenient? This whole _sob story_ about dead parents and childhood promises? Because I think it is. I think this is all nothing more than a fraud made to trick good-hearted and gullible people into giving them things for free out of sympathy. Sora and Haruka – if those are even their _real_ names – have been quite secretive with us all. But I have sharp eyes and ears – I know they are hiding something from the rest of us. Perhaps that is it. Who can say if they are even real siblings. I find it far more likely that they are a pair of lovers who make do in the world by deceiving others. So, how is it, Sora, Haruka? Am I right?" Tomoya and Kyou were staring at Haruno wide-eyed, while I stared at her firmly, meeting her rose-coloured eyes with my own. Outside, I kept my cool, but inside, I was boiling with anger. _This is… This is actual slander. I can't let this pass._ Just as I was about to reply, Sora let go of my hand and stood up from her seat.

"What..." Sora's voice was quiet, and I couldn't see her expression as she looked downwards with her bangs covering her face, but I could see her hands had balled up into shaky fists. "What the hell do you have against us?!" Sora shouted and snapped her head towards Haruno, who flinched back in surprise, and I could see pure, unfiltered _rage_ in my sister's teary eyes. "Ever since you came here, all you've been doing is pester us, sticking your nose into our lives, even when we said no! And now, you're outright speaking lies and accusing us of these horrible things, belittling and downplaying everything we've gone through, mocking all the pain we've had to endure! And you're even going so far as to _insult_ our dead parents?!" Sora's outburst had drawn the attention of the few others who were close by, and I could tell that even if they didn't understand what was going on, they could feel the emotion in my sister's voice.

"Sora..." I said quietly as tears began to roll down my sister's face, though she kept glaring at Haruno, continuing without paying any heed to her tears.

"How _fucking_ dare you! You know _nothing_ about us! You wouldn't understand the hardships we've had to face in a million years, you rich… _bitch_!" Sora took a deep and shaky breath, leaning on the table for support with one hand. "I… I hate you, Yukinoshita Haruno. I hated you from the very first moment I set my eyes on you. But I was able to tolerate you, for the sake of the others. I didn't want to ruin their vacation just because I found you irritating. But this… these accusations… This is too much." Sora wiped tears from her face with her free hand, her breathing now laboured from all her shouting. "I have half a mind to just punch your stupid pretty face in right now, just to give you a taste of a small _fraction_ of the pain Haru and I have had to endure. We've only made it this far because we have each other, so for you to come in and just say that it's all a lie… I… I just can't..." Sora collapsed back on the chair, visibly exhausted, and I instinctively reached out to hold her as she sniffled, her tears still flowing freely. _Sora… She must have been holding back all this time, holding all these emotions inside of her, letting them build up. And before she even noticed it herself… they overflowed. This was the last straw._

Everything around us stayed silent as I kept holding onto my crying sister. Haruno, Tomoya and Kyou were frozen in place, having witnessed Sora's emotional outburst, while Ushio was looking between all of us with a troubled expression, the corners of the little girl's eyes moist as tears threatened to flow from her eyes as well. After some time – I couldn't tell how long the silence had lasted for – Haruno seemed to finally break free from her stupor as she first blinked, then moved her gaze away from us. The movement cause Kyou to react as well, as she stood up from her seat and rushed to Sora, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Sora… What was..?" Kyou began with a troubled expression on her face, which changed into anger as she shifted her gaze to Haruno. "What was all that about, Haruno-san? Where did… these accusations suddenly come from? Look what you did to poor Sora!" Kyou's voice was accusatory as she glared at Haruno, and I joined her as I furrowed my brows in irritation.

"That was... uncalled for, Haruno-san." I said and met Haruno's eyes, now seeing in them just a hint of regret. _Is that just an act too..?_

"I..." Haruno opened her mouth to say something, looked at Sora, then let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Sora." As soon as Sora heard those words, she stood up from her seat again and began to glare at Haruno again.

"Whatever. I don't care, and I'm not listening to you again." Sora said coldly and began to walk away, pausing briefly after she passed by Haruno. "You're a horrible person, and I hope something equally horrible happens to you. Maybe then you'll learn what it feels like to be hurt." Haruno's eyes widened as she turned to look at Sora, but she was already running away, towards the stairs.

"Sora!" I shouted as I stood up from my own seat, but my sister didn't reply or react and simply began running up the stairs. _I can't remember the last time I've seen her like this, other than maybe when I… When we… fought._ I quickly shook my head to clear away the bad memories, then turned to glare at Haruno again. "You went too far, Haruno-san. I… wanted to think better of you, but looks like I was wrong."

I gave the woman one last, stern look, then dashed off after Sora.

* * *

 _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

I buried my face further into the pillow, now stained and wet due to my tears.

 _She's ruined everything._

I felt my grip on the sheet tightening, and got the feeling that if I wasn't so weak, I would have caused a tear in the fabric.

 _I hate her. I really hate her. I wish she would just… die._

"...Why couldn't Yukino-san just be an only child..." I whispered to myself quietly, the rage I was still feeling now slowly dispersing – though the anger behind it remained. _How horrible of a person do you have to be to just… say something like that? She doesn't know anything about pain or suffering. She doesn't know what we've been through._ _She has no right to make accusations like that. Especially in front of some of the rare people who would support us._ Just as I was starting to feel the anger boiling up again, there was a knock on the door, followed by the sound of it being unlocked and opened.

"Sora? Are you in here?" I felt relief upon hearing my brother's voice, but couldn't hold onto that feeling for long and kept my face buried in the pillow. _She insulted Haru as well, but he's far too kind-hearted to say anything back to her… Stupid Yukinoshita Haruno…_ "Sora..." I heard Haru's voice again, this time clearer, and glanced up briefly to see him standing next to the bed with a forlorn look on his face. I couldn't stand Haru looking like that, so I turned away from him, now also feeling guilt alongside the anger that still brewed within me.

"...I'm here, Haru." I said quietly and shifted to lie on my side, pulling my knees to my chest once I felt Haru sitting down on the bed just next to me and placing a hand on my shoulder. "...Hey, Haru. Have we… done something wrong?" I asked after nearly a minute of silence and turned my gaze upwards to look at Haru, who lifted an eyebrow in confusion at my question. "What… what have we done to deserve this? I mean... how _could_ she? And in front of Tomoya-san and Kyou-san as well..." Haru's hand began to gently caress my shoulder and upper arm, which helped in alleviating some of my anger.

"We haven't done anything wrong, Sora." Haru replied, his hand never stopping or slowing down. "I didn't think she'd go so far as to just let her thoughts be known like that, though."

"And yet she did. And now this whole day is ruined." I saw Haru giving me a sympathetic smile before he lied down next to me, still gently caressing my arm.

"We can still make this into a fun day, Sora. Kyou-san and Tomoya-san will understand. And even Haruno-san… Well, she certainly didn't expect your reaction. Hopefully this will get her to reconsider some things." Haru reached up with his free hand to rake his fingers through my hair, and I let out a sigh.

"She can go and _die_ for all I care. I'm done dealing with her." Haru's hand stopped briefly, but soon continued their movements. _I'm allowed to feel angry. I know Haru is angry as well, but he just doesn't show it._ "Because of her, I'm not even in the mood for anything right now." I lifted my head slightly and wiped some of the tears away from my face, which must have been a mess by now.

"I know you're angry, and for understandable reasons. I am too. Haruno-san went too far. But, you shouldn't let her ruin this day for you, right? She'll be gone from our lives by Monday and we won't have to worry about her any more after that. We wanted to spend this last weekend here with the Okazakis before we return home, and Haruno-san – or anyone for that matter – won't be able to ruin that." I stayed silent for a few moments after Haru finished, then let out another sigh. _Stupid Haru and his stupid optimism… And stupid me for believing him._

"Fine. So, what do you say we do? Go find Kyou-san and Tomoya-san, tell them how much of a _bitch_ Haruno-san is and then continue with our plans of hanging out?" I asked as I rolled to my other side, now facing Haru as we lied next to each other on the bed. _Under normal circumstances, I'd probably be all over him by now, but… Ugh, stupid Haruno-san._

"Well… Maybe not _exactly_ like that, but… We will need to talk to them about this. Haruno-san is likely speaking with them right now." I scowled a little at Haru's words. _She better not be telling them more lies… No, I trust Tomoya-san and Kyou-san. They wouldn't believe_ _her just like that. They're on our side._ "I was thinking that maybe we could give Hideki a call? I was meaning to do so anyway at some point today or tomorrow, so we might as well do it now. It might help you… _calm down_ and clear your head, Sora."

"I _am_ calm, Haru." I gave my brother a slight glare, and he smiled awkwardly at me in return. "Well… I guess it wouldn't hurt, though. Do you know if he'll have time for a phone call with us?" _It is Saturday, so I would assume he's free, but he could very well have something planned._

"I can't know for certain, obviously, but I'm sure he'll at least answer us. So… shall we call him right away?" Haru asked from me with a smile.

"Fine by me." I replied and turned onto my stomach, resting my head on the pillow that was still wet from my previous tears. _Maybe it will help me clear my head… As much as I want to scream at Haruno-san and just punch her in the face, being civil about this will probably be a better idea._ _But, I am done with acting around her. She needs to understand what a bitch she's been._

"Alright then." Haru got up into a sitting position and reached into his pocket to take out his phone. "I'll put it on the loudspeaker so you can hear and talk as well." I glanced at Haru and nodded, after which he began to look for Hideki's number in his contact list, dialling it as soon as he did. And, after a few moments, the call connected.

"Haruka! Good day!" Hideki's energetic voice echoed out from Haru's phone as he put the call on the loudspeaker.

" _Kon'nichiwa_ , Hideki." Haru replied as he turned to face me, and I turned to my side again so I was facing him and the phone's speaker.

"Hello, Hideki." I said and leaned on my hand, moving the pillow to the side.

"Ah, and Sora is there as well. Good day to you as well." Hideki paused for a moment, as if waiting for a reply, but continued shortly after neither of us said anything. "So, what's up? Any special reason why you wanted to call me? It's been a little while since we last spoke."

"Well, I guess we just wanted to talk with you before we leave Monday. And… well, Haruno-san managed to upset Sora quite dearly, so we hoped this would help with that." Haru said to Hideki and turned to me.

"Yukinoshita Haruno? What did she do?" Hideki asked, and even through the phone call I could tell his tone of voice was much more serious now. _Well, it won't hurt to vent a little._

I sat up as I gave Hideki a summary of what had happened not too long ago, with Haru giving the occasional input, and Hideki listened quietly, the only sounds coming from the other end of the line being the occasional "hm". I felt my anger flaring up again on multiple occasions as I recounted what Yukinoshita Haruno had said – as well as the things she had said to Haru and I before – but overall, telling about everything to Hideki felt honestly relieving.

"...I see. It is understandable why you two would feel angry, then." Hideki finally spoke after I had finished, now lying back down on the bed with Haru still sitting next to me. "Do you intend to confront her about it all?"

"Hikigaya said to us that she would likely be the one to confront us during the weekend, so she could find out what we were hiding from her, but I'm not sure if her little 'stunt' was that, or something else..." Haru replied, and Hideki ' _hmmmm'd_ ' at the other end of the line.

"Yukinoshita Haruno definitely is a crafty one, I'll give her that. I had a hard time reading her when I visited, and I'm usually quite good at reading people. If she was truly surprised by Sora's reaction, like Haruka thinks, then it's likely she'll be the one to try to reach out to you, possibly even with an apology. Though, she seemed very unpredictable, so I can't say for sure." _A mere apology won't suffice. Yukinoshita Haruno is far beyond forgiveness._ "I'm guessing you two haven't spoken to the Okazakis about this yet, have you?"

"We have not, no. They were quite shocked by the whole thing as well, and I trust that they'll believe us over Haruno-san."

"They are good people, so I'm sure you two will be fine. By the way… When are you two going to tell them the _truth_?" As soon as Hideki's words reached our ears, Haru and I looked at each other, knowing precisely what he was talking about. _We know we can't hide it from them forever. It wouldn't be the right thing to do, and I don't want to hide it from them._

"We'll tell them once we're back home safely and have dealt with our relatives." I replied in Haru's stead, and my brother nodded to me in agreement to my statement, though Hideki obviously couldn't see it. _The thought of telling them is making me nervous, but… We have to do it._

"That's good to hear. I'm sure they'll understand your circumstances and will be able to accept it. You two have grown close to them, and you're about to become real family – they wouldn't just abandon you after everything." Hideki's words brought a small smile to my face, and I let out a sigh. _His optimism exceeds even Haru's… I would like to believe for that to be the case, but… I can't help but be anxious._ "Well, in any case, I feel like we've talked enough about dreary things, eh? Why don't we talk about something nice to help you relax. What have you two been up to since I visited? Anything good happen?" I saw Haru's eyes widen slightly, before a big smile appeared on his face, which peaked my curiosity.

"Oh, something good definitely happened." Haru met my eyes with his own, the smile still on his face, while I simply raised an eyebrow in confusion. _What is he talking about?_ "We only found out about it recently ourselves, but I still wanted to tell you about it as soon as possible..." Haru trailed off as he kept his gaze locked onto mine. _Wait… Could he mean..!_ Haru seemed to noticed my realization, as he nodded, our wordless exchange bringing a bit of excitement into me.

"I'm pregnant!" I said as I leaned closer to Haru and his phone, my voice coming out a little louder than expected.

"Oh! Well, that is definitely something good. Congratulations!" Hideki's words brought a smile to my face, and I found my hand wandering down to my lower stomach, while my brother took a hold of my other one. _Yes… It definitely is a wonderful thing…_ "I guess it's good to know that the pregnancy tests I bought weren't for naught, heh. I still remember the clerk at the pharmacy looking at me oddly when I bought the package… It might be a bit late to ask this, but… Are you two sure you're ready to be parents? I have no doubt that you two wouldn't be good parents, but it isn't something to be taken lightly." Hideki's tone was back to being more serious again. _That… Well…_

"We know, Hideki. But, we do have plenty of time to prepare, right? I'm sure we'll be able to get everything in order by the time our child is born." Haru said with a smile, his hold on my hand tightening slightly. "Besides, we won't be alone. Kyou-san and Tomoya-san will be more than glad to help us, I'm sure of it." _Haru is right. I have to be hopeful, at least in this regard._

"Alright. Just remember that I am always available if you need any assistance, monetary or otherwise. And you're not allowed to refuse my help when you need it!" Haru grinned awkwardly at Hideki's words, and I knew he would have been just about to refuse Hideki's help had he not said that.

"Thank you, Hideki. We'll remember that." Haru paused for a moment, and was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by the sound of knocking coming from the door. _Who could it be? If it's Haruno-san…_ "Ah, sorry, Hideki, there's someone at the door. Let me go check on them real quick." Haru stood up and was about to place the phone down when Hideki spoke again.

"Oh, it's fine, Haruka. I think you should entertain your guest now. And you need to speak with the Okazakis as well." _Hideki was trying to take that off our minds, no doubt. Well, at least he did manage to help in considerably improving my mood. So, if it is Haruno-san behind that door… I'm ready for her._ "We can always talk some more later, or tomorrow. You'll be packing for Monday tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, that's right. I… guess I could give you a call tomorrow, then." Haru said, still standing in place next to the bed.

"Sounds good to me! I'll speak to you again then, Haruka, Sora. And I'll come and see you off on Monday as well, of course." Haru looked like he had just realized something, and quickly interrupted Hideki before he could finish his goodbyes.

"Oh, yes, I also wanted to ask you if you could contact Maria for us and see if she's free to come and see us off on Monday as well? I should still have her number somewhere, so I can message her myself tomorrow, but..." Haru said and rubbed the back of his neck. _Maria? I guess it would be nice to see her one last time before we return home. If only to inquire about her_ progress _with her little brother._

"Alright, I'll do that, Haruka. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to do so, if she is able to. But, if that's all, we'll speak again tomorrow?"

" _Arigatou_ , Hideki. Until tomorrow!"

"Goodbye, Hideki."

"Have a good day, you two!" With his final words, Hideki ended the call, and Haru placed his phone down on the nightstand.

"Right, I better go check who that was." My brother said and looked towards me hesitantly before speaking again. "If it's Haruno-san..."

"I'm okay, Haru. I'm almost hoping that it's her, so I can get everything off my chest once more and just be done with it." Haru stared into my eyes for a few moments, then nodded, before making his way to the door. _Yes, I hope it is indeed Haruno-san. I'm ready to end things with her here and now._ I moved to the other end of the bed to see the doorway better and steeled myself. Haru glanced back at me briefly, then opened the door.

"Sorry, I was on the phone with Hideki… Haruno-san." Past Haru, I could see a familiar figure, but couldn't see their face.

"Ah, Haruka-kun. Is… your sister here?" Haruno asked from my brother, but didn't attempt to peek past him into our room.

"I'm here, Haruno-san." I replied sharply. "What do you want?" Haru moved a little to the side, so I was now looking directly in the eyes of Yukinoshita Haruno. Her expression was neutral, but she averted her eyes from mine rather quickly.

"Well… I wanted to speak to you two about… what happened downstairs." Haruno replied, her voice sounding a little meeker than usual. _She has to be acting. I'm not buying that she actually feels any remorse for what she did._

"You talked with Kyou-san and Tomoya-san, right? What did you tell them?" Haru asked, and Haruno looked to him briefly before answering.

"Kyou-san gave me quite an earful. Seems like she believes you two over me." Haruno said and met my eyes with hers. _Don't tell me…_

"...Are you still serious about believing that _bullshit_ you spouted out in front of them?" I asked while glaring at Haruno, but she seemed unfazed, reacting with simply a sigh.

"That is what I want to talk about. Can I… come inside?" Haru looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and I gave him a nod as I stood up.

"Go ahead." I stood in front of the bed and crossed my arms as I watched Haruno enter our hotel room, her gaze flicking here and there, finally landing on the pillow I had stained with my tears. "Before you say anything, though… There's something I need to get out of my system." I glanced at Haru, who had just closed the door behind Haruno, then walked up to the older woman. I stopped just in front of her, raising my hand as she looked at me with confusion, then, putting all of my strength into my arm…

 _Slap!_

The sound of my palm colliding with Haruno's cheek rang out clearly in the otherwise quiet room. I was certain I had never used so much of what little strength I had in anything else, and could only hope that the pain Haruno was feeling was greater than what I could feel in my hand after the deed had been done. I was also certain that I had never done something so satisfying ever before.

"...You deserve at least a thousand of those, and even then, the pain you'd feel wouldn't even be _close_ to what Haru and I have had to go through." Haruno turned to me slowly as she reached up to hold her cheek, the expression on her face one of genuine surprise. "Let it serve as a reminder to never dismiss someone else's pain as nothing but _lies_."

"..." Haruno stared at me in silence for a few moments, during which Haru made his way over to us, standing next to me. "...So your story… It's all true, then?" My hands balled up into fists, and I wanted to slap Haruno a second time, but gritted my teeth and held back.

"Of course it is! Unlike you, we aren't horrible people who manipulate others for our own gain! All the sorrow we've felt, all the hard times we've had to weather, they're _all_ true. And you're lower than the lowest of the low to suggest otherwise. You're insulting the memory of our parents by even _thinking_ of it!" I could feel tears welling up my eyes again, but kept glaring at Haruno, my fists shaking from anger.

"Sora..." Haru said my name quietly and placed a hand on my shoulder, then turned to look at Haruno sternly. "I don't know why you would think otherwise, but all we've told you is the truth. What do you have against us, Haruno-san? What are you trying to achieve by antagonizing and provoking us?" Haruno shifted her gaze to my brother briefly, then let out a sigh, still holding onto her cheek with one hand.

"I know you're telling me the truth. But I also know you're not telling me – or anyone else for that matter – everything. So, let me ask you two directly. Are you hiding something form everyone else?" Haruno's eyes flicked between the two of us, and Haru squeezed my shoulder. _Can we just say yes and be done with this?_

"...If by 'hiding something' you mean that we have something we haven't told to the rest of the group, then..." Haru trailed off and looked to me again.

"Yes. There are things we have not told everyone else, for our personal reasons. You haven't exactly laid everything bare in front of us either, Haruno-san." I finished what Haru was saying. "And we don't really feel like telling you, especially after everything you've done. You… You're a horrible person, you do know that, right?" Haruno kept her gaze fixated on me for a few moments, then lowered her hand from her face and sighed.

"Surprisingly, I hear that a lot. But, If you have things you'd prefer to keep to yourself, I can understand that. And I do know that I have been quite unfair towards you two. And… perhaps, just this once, I went too far." Haruno smiled guiltily, then – surprisingly – bowed deeply to the two of us. "I apologize for everything, Haruka-kun, Sora-chan." I narrowed my eyes as I looked at Haruno, still refusing to believe that she was being genuine with her words. "I know what you're thinking." Haruno said as she raised her head again. " _I_ wouldn't trust me with an apology, but just know that I don't just do this everyday." Haruno smiled a mysterious smile, and I shared a look with my brother, who looked as lost as I was intrying to discern Haruno's true meaning behind her words.

"So, now that you've apologized… is that all?" My brother asked, and Haruno's face became neutral again.

"Well… You know what, I'll give you two a deal. You'll be leaving on Monday. If you can humour me just a little bit, I'll leave you alone, not just for tomorrow, but for the foreseeable future. In case we happen to meet again. Sound good?" Haruno glanced between the two of us again, a bit of playfulness in her voice. I glanced at Haru again, but his expression told me that this should be my decision.

"...Go on." I said warily, and Haruno smiled in return.

"Since you won't tell me what it is that you're not telling me, will you at least let me voice my other speculations as to what your 'big secret' could have been? You don't have to say anything in return, just let me speak them out loud." _In other words… She's still trying to catch us by trying to gauge our reactions. Alright. Have it your way, then._

"Do as you please." I replied, and the smile on Haruno's face grew slightly.

"Wait, Sora..?" I looked to my brother, knowing that he had come to the same conclusion as I had. _It will be fine._ I stared into Haru's eyes for a few moments, until he closed his mouth and the two of us turned back to Haruno. _We just have to act unfazed no matter what she says. We don't care what other people think of us, so this will be easy._

"Splendid. Right, so… The whole thing about you two being manipulative liars was mostly just made up in order to rile you two up so you would slip something, but… There was an element to it where I thought it possible. However, there were other ideas I had, ones which I believed to be more likely. Either..." Haruno raised her right hand and lifted her index finger up. "...You two were people hired to _spy_ on Yukino-chan and I by our mother, or..." Haruno lifted up a second finger and spoke in a lower tone. "...You two have a very _special_ relationship that you're keeping hidden." Haruno stared directly into my eyes, and I kept staring back at hers, not even blinking. _So, she knew after all. Or, suspected that she knew._ _Well, it's not like she'll do anything with that knowledge._

"...If that was all, could you do like you said you would and leave us alone?" I said coolly, still keeping my gaze fixated on Haruno. _She shouldn't have been able to read anything from my reaction, so unless Haru wasn't able to keep the poker face…_ I glanced at Haru, and his expression was as neutral as could be. _Good job, Haru._

"So very interesting…" Haruno muttered to herself, and I shifted my gaze back to her. "It is a terrible shame, considering I'll be quite bored for some time after this, but… I'll hold up to my side of the deal." Haruno glanced between the two of us with a smile, then took a step back. "I do keep my promises, after all. Most of the time." Haruno gave us a wink, then proceeded to walk over to the door, where she stopped briefly to look back at us. "Oh, and Sora… That hurt like _hell_ , by the way." Haruno smiled as she brought a hand to her face, the cheek I had slapped still red and slightly swollen. "If we meet again some day, remind me to buy some drinks for you two. Until then… _Sayōnara_." With those words, Haruno opened the door and stepped outside, not looking back at us again. _Finally…_

As soon as the door shut behind Haruno, I fell backwards and onto the bed, feeling all the energy leaving my body, turning my legs into jelly. _Please… let this be over with this…_ I closed my eyes as I spread my arms as wide as I could, an immense feeling of relief washing over me.

"...I hope we never have to see or talk with her again, Haru." I said once I felt Haru sitting down next to me.

"That… would probably be an ideal outcome, yes. We don't know if she'll really keep her promise yet, though." I opened my eyes and looked at Haru, who was gazing towards the door with a thoughtful look on his face. "The way she said her goodbyes, though, did make it feel like we wouldn't be seeing her again..." I let out a sigh and mustered my remaining energy to reach out to place a hand on Haru's shoulder, causing him to look down at me.

"You're supposed to be the optimistic one out of the two of us, right? It's… over now, Haru." My brother smiled at me, then laid down next to me.

"Sorry, Sora. I'm glad that we were able to solve this, too." _Yukinoshita Haruno… I do truly hope we do not see again, for your sake. For if we do, I'll give your other cheek the same treatment._ "Shall we go find Tomoya-san and Kyou-san and explain everything to them? I'm sure they're worried about you. And if Haruno-san truly won't bother us any more..."

"Just let me rest for a little while, Haru. The anger and adrenaline were the only things keeping me standing upright, so I need to gather some strength before I'm ready to do anything." I replied and closed my eyes again, and I heard a small chuckle coming from my brother.

"As you say, Sora." I felt Haru's lips pressing against my forehead, and I smiled. _No-one, not even Yukinoshita Haruno, could get rid of this, the bond we have. Not in a million years._

We wouldn't know it until the next day, but that truly was the last time would see Yukinoshita Haruno in a long while, possibly ever, as Harri told us that she had checked out of the hotel that morning and driven off in a taxi.

* * *

 **AN: Fuck my life. This took me nearly a _month_ to write, and I am super sorry that I made you all wait yet again. I am pretty happy with how the chapter turned out, but I could have easily had this finished two weeks ago if it weren't for procrastination. Thankfully you all seem to be a patient lot, so someone like me couldn't ask for a better readerbase. Is "readerbase" a word? Well, if it isn't, I've just invented it.**

 **On another note, the next chapter will be the final one. After that, there will be a shorter epilogue chapter to wrap up this story, and then I'll start working on the sequel – though not right away. There's another story project I want to start before that, but I won't be gone from the "saga" of the Kasugano twins for long.**

 **Until next time, cheerio!**


	23. Final Chapter

**AN: Hello, dear readers, for the second to last time for this story! It has been a long and enjoyable journey, but the end is visible, with only this final chapter and an epilogue remaining. I thank you all for sticking with me on this journey, and I hope you'll stay for the ride till the very end – and jump on the next one in the eventual sequel. I'll have more info on that in the near future, but for now, just enjoy this final chapter to the fullest!**

* * *

 **Final Chapter – The Return**

"Are you sure you've got everything? It'll be difficult to get anything we forget back to Japan."

"Yes, I'm sure. We've checked everything about five times – I even managed to find my rabbit doll amongst our luggage. Besides, if we do forget something, couldn't we just ask Hideki to send it back to us?"

"I… guess that's true. Sorry, Sora. I'm just a little paranoid."

My sister sighed as I let out a little awkward laugh, then proceeded to perform one final check of all our luggage. We didn't have much luggage on this trip to begin with, and we hadn't done much shopping that could have increased the amount significantly, but that didn't mean we could be sloppy with packing everything up. _Speaking of shopping, I'll need to buy some souvenirs_ _for everyone back home… I remember seeing some shops that could work for that at the airport._ _I wonder, though… What will all of our friends think..? I hope… I hope they'll be able to understand and accept us._ I shook my head to clear away the gloomy thoughts that had appeared in my head, then began to ready up all of our luggage.

Our vacation was finally ending. In just a couple of hours, Sora and I would be sitting aboard an intercontinental flight from Rovaniemi to Tokyo. These were our final moments in Finland, and we didn't know when we would be able to come and visit again – if _ever_.

Sunday had been our last proper day here, but we had a lot to prepare for today. Apart from packing, we also had to procure last-minute tickets for the flight (which Harri helped us with), as well as plan our meeting with our aunt and uncle with the Okazakis – who we also helped with their own packing somewhat. Hideki had informed our relatives that we would be returning today, so we could expect them to be waiting for us at the airport – and we had to be ready. Their reaction to our proposal of having the Okazakis take over as our legal guardians was still unknown to us, but we would all do our best to convince them to agree to it. Even Mikami was willing to help us, and having a lawyer on our side made all of us a lot more confident.

Our plan was relatively simple. Upon meeting with mine and Sora's relatives, we would explain to them that the Okazakis were willing to take custody over us and become our legal guardians in their place – and we would stand by that, no matter their reaction. If they refused and still insisted on separating me and Sora, we would take the issue to court with Mikami. And if they didn't… well, then everything would have gone as we hoped.

"Haru. Stop spacing out and help me with this." My sister's voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I turned to see her pointing a finger at the bed. _Ah, right, of course._

"Sorry, Sora. I'm coming." I walked over to Sora and helped her tidy it up, before we turned it around so it was facing the door of the room. _This bed wasn't originally from this room, but we were able to receive 'special treatment' from Harri regarding our sleeping arrangements. Harri said that he'd have the bed moved back_ _after we'd left so we didn't have to worry about it, but the least we can do is help out a little by making it easier for them._

"Haah… that was exhausting… If we hadn't just fixed up the bed, I would just drop right back onto it." My sister said as she leaned against the wall. I did most of the work turning the bed, but she insisted on helping me.

"After you've caught your breath, we should go see if Kyou-san and Tomoya-san have finished up. Then we can head downstairs, where I'm sure Mikami-san is already waiting for us." I said to Sora with a smile, then proceeded to move all of our luggage to be ready by the door. Just as I was about to return to my sister's side, there was a knock on the door, and I instantly checked the time on my phone. _We should still be on schedule, right? Could it still be Harri?_ I placed my phone back in my pocket and opened the door to find Tomoya standing outside of it.

"Ah, Haruka. Morning." Tomoya said and raised a hand awkwardly.

"What is it, Tomoya-san? You need some help with your final checks?" I asked while I heard shuffling from behind me, guessing that my sister had peeked in to see who had come to us.

"Well… No, we don't. Kyou decided that she didn't need even _my_ help and told me to get out of her way until she was done, so… Do you guys need any help?" Tomoya asked as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"We're just about ready. Sora just had to take a breather after we moved the bed." I replied and gestured behind me, while Tomoya nodded to me.

"Ah, I see. Well, you don't mind me waiting here, then? I'm sure Kyou will come find us here soon when she's finished."

"Yeah, that's fine." I stepped out of the way and flashed Tomoya a smile, which he returned to me as he stepped into our hotel room, closing the door behind himself.

"Huh… It's a lot neater than our room was just yesterday. You can hardly tell that this place has been inhabited for the past couple of weeks." Tomoya commented as he walked in, his gaze finally landing on Sora, who was now sitting on the floor. _If only he had seen the bed before we cleaned it up yesterday… We've been careful not to leave behind any…_ stains _, but it was clear as day what it had been used for regularly._ "Ah, good morning, Sora." Tomoya then said to my sister as he pulled up a chair and sat down on it.

"Morning, Tomoya-san. Got kicked out by your wife?" Sora replied with a grin as I walked up next to her, and Tomoya let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Seems like it. Unfortunately, the amount of women here was drastically reduced in a short period of time, so it doesn't look like I'll have any chances at working my charms on anyone here." Tomoya said and crossed his arms while shaking his head. "Unless..."

"Sorry to disappoint, but you're a little too old for me, Tomoya-san." Sora said with a playful smile as she glanced at me, going along with Tomoya's little joke.

"Darn, that kinda hurts to hear. I guess I _am_ a dad, so it was only a matter of time before I became an old man." Tomoya let out another exaggerated sigh, and my sister giggled. "Still, it is a shame all the beautiful women left… Though, I guess _one of them_ was only beautiful on the outside." I saw Tomoya's expression changing slightly, and neither of us had to guess who he was talking about. _At least she seemed to keep her promise…_

When we woke up yesterday to get our packing and other last-minute preparations for our return done, we quickly realized that Yukinoshita Haruno had – to put it simply – _vanished_. When we met up with Harri, he told us that apparently she had packed everything and checked out of the hotel early in the morning, then driven off in a taxi without even as much as a goodbye. She had requested that the employee at the front desk thanked Harri on her behalf, which is how he found out about her leaving, but other than that, she hadn't said anything to anyone. _I do wonder if we'll ever see her again… Well, We might run into her in the future if we spend more time with Hikigaya and his girls. Perhaps she knew that, and made the promise she did because of that? How far ahead does she think, I wonder..?_

"Well, that's behind us now, Tomoya-san." Sora broke the silence that had formed between us, and both Tomoya and I turned to look at her. "I don't hold a grudge against her any more, and it doesn't seem like we'll ever see her again." My sister crossed her arms and huffed, then turned her gaze to Tomoya. "What are you planning on doing after we get back home, Tomoya-san? You've still got vacation left, right?" Sora's changing of the subject made it very clear she didn't care for talking about Yukinoshita Haruno any longer. _Sora is right. Our dealings with her are behind us, and if we do happen to meet with her again in the future… We'll deal with it when that moment comes. But we will be ready for her._

"Yeah, my work doesn't start until next week. My original plans were to just laze around at home, but… If the whole deal with your aunt and uncle goes well, I might spend the week with you two in Okukozome." Tomoya replied to my sister, glancing at me briefly as well. "We'll likely be spending time there in the future with you two, so I should get to know the place and the locals." Sora and I shared a look with each other as Tomoya finished. _We'll need to tell them before that._ _It wouldn't be ideal if Tomoya-san heard about our relationship from one of our friends before he did from us._

"We'll be happy to show you around, Tomoya-san. Not that there's much to see in Okukozome in the first place, though." I said to Tomoya with a smile.

"I'm sure I'll like it, Haruka. As I've said before, Hikarizaka is a pretty small place, and I've lived there my whole life – I'm more fond of smaller towns than I am large cities. Though… Seeing the same streets every day does tend to get a little boring, so… Maybe I'm also just looking for something new to look at every once in a while." Tomoya replied with a slight grin. _And I'm sure he'll fit right in with everybody in Okukozome. I only hope_ we _can still fit in with everyone…_

"Just don't complain about the lack of internet and places to shop in, because that's what you'll be signing up for." Sora replied to Tomoya cheekily, and I got the urge to tease my sister a little bit.

"Oh? Weren't you the one who initially complained about both of those things when we moved there, Sora? I remember that you were especially distraught over the former." Sora looked to me with a scowl, then turned her gaze away and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hmph. W-well, maybe I did at the beginning, but not anymore! I'm a changed person, now, and I won't complain about such trivial things. If there is no internet, I will simply find something else to do." Sora said defiantly, and I felt a smile growing on my face. _I know for a fact that what Sora is saying is true to some extent. She has changed during our trip here, and matured as a person. I feel like compared to my sister, I haven't changed much, though I think it would be best to ask someone else other than myself about that._ Just then, a knock could be heard coming from the door.

"That's probably Kyou-san. I'll go check." I received a nod from Tomoya, while Sora still had her gaze turned away, and I made my way to open the door to our new visitor.

"Good morning, Haruka. Is my useless dead-weight of a husband here?" My guess turned to be correct as I opened the door and Kyou's violet-haired head poked in. I glanced back towards Tomoya, who grinned awkwardly, then stood up from his seat.

"Yes yes, I love you too, dear. Come on, let's get your luggage out."

Tomoya helped us bring our luggage out to the hallway – not that we needed much help – before we proceeded to do the same for his and Kyou's luggage. As it turned out, a family of three had a lot more luggage than a pair of siblings, though Kyou did admit somewhat bashfully that a good portion of the things they had brought with them were a result of her overpreparing and thus largely unnecessary.

Once we had gotten everything outside, we proceeded to do one final check on both of our rooms to make sure everything was left in tip-top shape, with Ushio and Sora being left to guard our belongings in the hallway. And after finishing with our final checks, we gathered our luggage and locked the hotel room doors behind us for good, beginning to make our way downstairs where Mikami and Harri were no doubt waiting for us already. On the way down, I received a text message from Hideki saying that he was waiting for us at the airport together with Maria. He had gotten a hold of her after our call with him on Saturday and the girl had gladly agreed to seeing us off, having been picked up by Hideki early this morning before the pair made the trip here. I figured Hideki must have just arrived at the airport not too long ago himself, given that it was still relatively early in the day. _The car drive must have been tiring… Unless Hideki and Maria took the train, like we did._

Arriving downstairs, we could spot Harri and Mikami having a cup of coffee together at the lobby bar – though it wasn't open yet, so I assumed Harri must have procured it from somewhere else – so we went to the front desk to check out before meeting with them. Sora and I hadn't needed to pay for our rooms, but we still had to return the keys. Glancing up at the clock above the front desk, I confirmed we were still on schedule. The flight wouldn't be leaving for another hour, but we wanted to be at the airport early so we could spend a bit of time there, given that Hideki and Maria had come to see us off. _We had to wake up quite early today, but that couldn't be avoided. Sora handled it surprisingly well – I expected a lot more grumpiness from her._ I saw my sister raising an eyebrow in question at me, and I realized I had been staring at her. I silently shook my head at her, then took her hand into mine as we made our way to where Harri and Mikami were.

" _Ah, and here they come now. Good morning, everyone!_ " Harri greeted us as we approached him, with Mikami offering us a small nod of acknowledgement as his greeting. " _Are we all ready, now?_ "

" _Yes, we are_." Kyou replied and glanced between each of us, her husband nodding along with her. " _We'll let you finish those cups first, though._ "

" _I hadn't had my cup of coffee this morning yet, so I figured we'd treat ourselves as we waited for you_." Harri replied with a smile and gestured to Mikami, who had surprisingly little luggage with him, considering everything I had seen in his room. " _I do want to take this moment to thank you all for working together with me on my project. Your help has been invaluable, and my boss was very pleased with the results. It is a shame our time together is coming to an end, but I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to you all._ "

" _We should be the ones thanking you, Harri_." I replied with a smile, and Sora nodded with my words. " _We don't know what we would have done had you not offered us this deal._ " Harri lifted a hand in response and shook his head with a smile.

" _Any friend of Hideki's is a friend of mine. This was the least I could do for you two, but I am glad you think that way. You two will always be welcome here, though I might get chewed_ _on_ _by my boss if I let you stay for free._ " Harri said with a grin, taking a sip of his coffee. " _I hope things go well with your relatives_ _back home, too._ "

" _We're hoping so as well._ " I replied and glanced at Kyou and Tomoya, the latter of which gave me a nod accompanied by a smile.

" _Based on everything you've told me, I am quite positive that things will turn out in your favour._ " Mikami said, bringing our attention to him as he placed down his coffee cup, seemingly finished with drinking it. " _I'll be waiting by the car, Harri._ _We're not in a hurry, but I would like to get going soon._ " Harri nodded to Mikami as the black-haired man stood up from his seat, letting his gaze wander across each of us before he picked up his luggage and began to make his way to the door.

" _Well, we shouldn't keep him waiting for long._ " Harri said and took another sip of his coffee as he watched Mikami walk out of the main doors of the hotel. " _Has Hideki already arrived at the airport?_ " He then asked as he turned to face me, and I nodded to him in reply.

" _Yes._ _He sent a message to me not too long ago where he said that he is already there with Maria._ " I replied.

" _Ah, yes, the girl from Taivalkoski? I'm surprised she came all this way just too see you two off… As far as I'm aware, it's supposed to be exam week now for High School students. Although, there could very well be regional differences_ _between the schools here and the ones further south._ " Harri seemed to get lost in thought for a moment, before he drank the rest of his coffee and turned to the rest of us again. " _Right, shall we get going? Better to spend the time waiting for the flight at the airport than here._ "

After we all agreed with Harri, he had one of the other employees clean up his and Mikami's coffee cups, and we began to make our way outside, to Harri's SUV. As we arrived, Mikami was organizing his luggage in the trunk of the vehicle (where I could see a couple more suitcases and a travel bag that belonged to Mikami, explaining why I saw such little luggage with him in the lobby), and he helped us fit all our things in as well. With the amount of luggage the Okazakis had, though, Sora and I had to leave our bags in the empty row of seats, but there was plenty of space for our small amount of luggage. With everything safely secured inside, and Ushio comfortably sitting in her safety seat, we all climbed aboard Harri's SUV for one final trip.

The airport was only about a ten-minute drive away from the hotel, though it did seem that early morning on a Monday did bring a bit of traffic out to the roads. While we chatted with the Okazakis and Harri, I sent a quick text back to Hideki to inform him we were on our way, receiving a brief reply in return. And, despite the traffic, it didn't take long for us to arrive at the airport. The weather was still cloudy after having rained a lot over the weekend, but the sun could be seen peeking through a few cracks every now and then. _I hope that is a good sign._ As we made our way to the main entrance from where Harri had parked his car, we passed by a silver car parked on the side of the road adjacent to the airport building. I watched as a middle-aged man exited out of the front seat, went around the other side of the car to pick up a large backpack, then say something in Finnish – likely a farewell – with a raised hand before striding towards the entrance. As I glanced at the back seat of the car, my eyes met those of a young boy with blonde hair peeking through the window as he waved after the man, but he quickly looked away from me, and shortly afterwards, the car drove off. _He seemed to be about the age of Maria's brother… Was that his father, perhaps? That was a rather fast goodbye, though… Well, maybe that's just how they do things._ My gaze lingered on the car for a few moments, before I looked forwards again and saw a familiar face standing by the airport entrance.

"Sora! Haruka! It's good to see you two again!" As soon as he noticed us, we were greeted by Hideki as he enthusiastically waved at us. And standing next to him was none other than Maria. "And the rest of you as well, of course. _Kon'nichiwa_!" Hideki flashed a bright smile to us, and I couldn't help but smile myself.

"Hello, Hideki. It's good to see you too." My sister replied as we approached Hideki and Maria, the latter of whom she turned to face. " _Hello, Maria._ " She then continued in English.

" _Hello, Sora, Haruka. It's been a while since we last saw each other. Have you two been well?_ " The blonde asked from us with a smile.

" _Yes, we have. We've had a lot of fun here in Rovaniemi with everyone. Ah, but we should get you all introduced, right?_ " I replied, then glanced at everyone, noticing that Ushio was peeking at Maria from behind Kyou with a curious gaze.

" _Let's all get inside first, shall we? It will be much more pleasant to wait for your flight there than out in this weather._ " Harri said and gestured to the sky, and we gave him a round of nods before heading inside.

The airport was as I remembered it from a few days prior, though there seemed to be a lot less hustle and bustle than last time. There were less people around, and a quite a few more seemed to be asleep on the benches. I guessed they were people who had spent the night at the airport – if that was even allowed – or their flights were later in the day and they needed to catch some eyefuls of sleep before then. We made our way to one unoccupied side of the seating area, where we piled our luggage and then sat down, with Maria doing a round of introductions with everyone, surprising the Okazakis – and Harri – with her Japanese skills. After the introductions, Ushio needed to go to the toilet, so while Kyou escorted her there and Tomoya was striking up a conversation with Hideki, Sora and I were left with Maria.

"So, I guess your brother couldn't come with you, then?" Sora asked from Maria as the girl took a seat next to us.

"Oh, no, he couldn't. I've got exams this week, and had today off, but my little brother still has school. He would have liked to come see you two off, though, I'm sure." Maria replied to my sister with a smile. _So I guess Harri was right – she does indeed have an exam week. A day off, though? How does that work?_

"Hmm… I see. Now, I do have to ask… How are things going for you two?" Sora leaned a little closer to Maria as she grinned, and the blonde's face became flushed as she quickly glanced around. "Now _that_ is a good reaction~! What you two been up to, I wonder?"

"W-we haven't… _b-been up to_ anything." Maria said, keeping her voice a little quieter now, and I suppressed a sigh. _Why am I not surprised_ _that_ _Sora goes straight to_ that _..?_ " _We've been… talking about what it means for us to_ _be in a relationship._ " Maria continued in English, keeping her voice lowered. " _He's still_ _relatively young, so I don't want to make it feel like I'm_ forcing _it onto him. As… As much as I love him… I want to give him time to think, and make sure he knows what he's getting into by being with his sister_ _like this. And unlike you two, we actually have our parents to worry about… Ah, sorry, was that insensitive of me?_ " Maria fidgeted as she spoke, her gaze flitting about as if she was worried about being overheard.

" _It's okay, don't worry about it._ " Sora replied with a smile, glancing briefly in the direction of Tomoya and Hideki, who seemed to be making their way over to us. " _Oh, and by the way, Hideki is the only one who knows about_ us _, so..._ " _Sora disliked us hiding our relationship,_ _and I think she still does, but at least she now knows it is sometimes a necessity. Hopefully, soon we won't need to do it any more._

" _Oh, yes, Hideki told me already. Don't worry, Sora._ " Maria replied, and Sora gave her a nod as Hideki and Tomoya came up to us. " _Kon'nichiwa_ , Tomoya-san, Hideki." Maria greeted the two with a slight bow of her head.

"Hey, Maria. Weren't you two planning on buying some souvenirs, Sora, Haruka?" Tomoya replied to Maria, then turned to us.

"Yes, I was just about to ask if Maria wanted to join us for that." I replied and looked towards the blonde. " _I figured you'd know best what kind of souvenirs we should buy._ " I then said to her in English.

" _Oh, I don't know about that, but… Sure, I'll happily accompany you. Don't you need someone to watch your luggage, though?_ " Maria glanced around, and I followed her gaze to where Harri and Mikami were, the luggage of both Mikami and the Okazakis next to them.

" _I can stay here, Maria._ " Hideki said with a smile, then nudged Tomoya with an elbow. "I'll let you _kids_ have some fun, heh." Tomoya let out a small chuckle as Hideki finished. _Hideki isn't that old himself, but compared to Tomoya-san, the age gap is significant. Both of them are very youthful, though. You definitely couldn't guess either of their age just from the way they act._

"Alright, then. Shall we go and see what we can find? I kind of want to buy some souvenirs as well, maybe for Sunohara or Tomoyo... I think I saw a souvenir shop over that way..."

Leaving Hideki behind with our luggage, Maria, Tomoya, Sora and myself made our way to a small shop at the airport that sold things such as snacks, drinks, magazines, travel guides, postcards, and of course, a selection of various kinds of souvenirs. Luckily for us, all the things sold here were quite cheap, so even Sora and I could afford something with out dwindling budget.

"Let's see… There's a lot of keychains and such..." Tomoya said as he scanned the selection. "Are these made of bone? Do you know what this material is, Maria?" Tomoya asked as he picked up a keychain made from what looked like a piece of engraved bone.

"Oh, that is..." Maria walked up to Tomoya and looked at the keychain in his hands. " _Reindeer horn. It's a common material here. Look, there's even some jewellery._ " Maria explained in English and pointed at a shelf with a selection of different kinds of necklaces and pendants made from both metal and reindeer horn. _Judging by the prices, these metal ones are cheaply made… Perhaps copper?_ _Though I don't know what these silver-coloured ones would be made of._

"At least these aren't as expensive as the ones we bought from that jewellery store." I said as I picked up one of the pendants made with a carved piece of reindeer horn. "Akira might like this… Or maybe something for Nao..? Hmm..." As I was going through the various things on display, I felt a tug on my sleeve and turned to see Sora eyeing me suspiciously.

"Haru. You're not thinking of buying jewellery for another girl, are you?" Sora asked from me with a serious tone, though I could see a hint of playfulness in her eyes. "Ah, what a cruel brother I have. I'm right here next to him, and yet he is thinking about other women. Did this ring mean nothing to you?" Sora dramatically brought one hand to her face as she held out the other, showcasing the silver ring I had bought for her. _Oh, I see how it is. I'll play along._

"Do not worry, Sora." I said as I took a hold of her hand and bowed my head. "As my dear sister, you will always have a special place in my heart. But I cannot forget my friends, can I?" Sora stared at me from between her fingers for a few moments, then pulled her hand away.

"Fine. I shall allow it this once, Haru. But remember that I might not be as lenient in the future." Sora crossed her arms and huffed, and I heard a chuckle from Tomoya.

"That does bring up a good point… Kyou might get jealous if I buy jewellery for Tomoyo. Gah, getting souvenirs suddenly just got a lot harder..." I smiled a little as Tomoya grumbled about his predicament, and began to look through the souvenirs again. _I kind of want to get something for everyone, but even if these are cheap, that might be asking for too much… Nao definitely deserves something, and I can guess that Akira will be expecting a souvenir… Perhaps one for_ _Ryouhei, or Ifukube-san? Well, that is if we assume they'll all still be friends with us… At the very least, they could accept the souvenirs, right?_

"So your brother bought that ring for you, did he? It's so pretty..." I heard Maria say, and glanced over at the girls to see her admiring Sora's ring. "I really like the swan motif. Where did he buy that from?"

"It was from a jewellery store here in Rovaniemi. Haru bought it as a surprise." Sora replied with a smile on her face. _She's clearly enjoying my gift. And that makes me happy as well._

"Buying a ring for your sister… If I didn't know better, I'd think she was your girlfriend instead, heh." Tomoya commented with a small chuckle as he compared two keychains in his hands. _..._ _You'll get to know soon enough, Tomoya-san._ "Which one of these do you think would suit best for a tomboy? Wait, that's a silly question to ask about a keychain… Does she even need a keychain? Maybe the pendant would be a better idea after all..."

While the girls kept mostly chatting away, Tomoya and I went through nearly all of the souvenirs the shop had to offer. And with some input from the girls, we managed to pick suitable souvenirs we would take to our friends back home. Tomoya ended up buying a pendant made from reindeer horn engraved with a simplistic depiction of two reindeer for his friend Tomoyo, a similar keychain but with a snowflake instead of a reindeer for a co-worker of his, and finally an odd-looking but quite charming wooden drinking cup called a _kuksa_ for another friend of his, Sunohara. I ultimately decided to buy a pendant similar to the one Tomoya had bought to give to Akira, a cloth bracelet woven with a rather intricate pattern in traditional _Sami_ style for Nao, and two bags of salted liquorice candy (somewhat of a Finnish speciality, according to Maria), one for Ifukube, and the other for Ryouhei – though I was hoping we would be able to share the second one with everyone at school.

After we were done with our souvenir shopping, the four of us headed back to where everyone else was waiting. Kyou had returned with Ushio while we were gone, and while she did initially eye her husband suspiciously when he mentioned having bought a piece of jewellery for another woman as a souvenir, she accepted Tomoya's explanation and went to buy a souvenir for her sister, leaving Tomoya to look after Ushio. It wouldn't be long until our flight, so we passed the time chatting and reminiscing about our time here. We even ended up telling Maria about our situation with our aunt and uncle, and what we planned to do with the Okazakis. While Maria wasn't able to provide much help or input, she wished us luck with our endeavour, which was more than enough from her.

As our time before the flight grew shorter and shorter, I started to feel a little melancholic, knowing that we would not be seeing Harri, Maria or Hideki any time soon, even if we were able to return to Finland one day. I tried to not let my thoughts affect my mood, but as usual, there was very little I could hide from my sister, who I could tell knew what I was thinking. She was likely having similar thoughts herself. I was proud of Sora, for having opened up to all the people we met and having managed to befriend them. _Now my only hope is that the "new" Sora will be able to properly befriend everyone back home… As much as Sora and I are perfectly capable of being on our own, the best outcome would be for all of us to be able to stay as friends, despite mine and Sora's relationship. But, we have a flight ahead of us, and after that, our relatives. We'll worry about everything else after that._

" _I think… that should be your flight._ " Harri's comment pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked up to see him gazing at the large screen in the distance that listed all of the arrivals and departures, while a mechanical voice echoed out from the announcer, repeating the same message in Finnish, Swedish and English.

" _Yes, it is. We should get going – we don't want to get held up in customs for too long._ " Mikami said as he stood up, beginning to gather up his own luggage, and I saw Tomoya and Kyou doing the same.

"I… guess this is goodbye, then." I said and looked towards Maria and Hideki, feeling Sora take a hold of my hand as I did.

"Don't be so gloomy about it, Haruka. We'll be keeping touch even after this, and who knows, perhaps I'll have to make a trip back home soon, if only to go and pay my respects to your late parents." Hideki replied with a smile.

"And I'll definitely keep in contact with you two!" Maria continued, reaching out to take Sora's free hand. "Though phone calls might get a bit expensive… Maybe e-mail? I'll… I'll figure something out." Maria gave us a determined smile, and I couldn't help but smile in return.

" _Arigatou_ , Maria, Hideki." My sister thanked the two of them. "Especially you, Hideki. I… I admit, I didn't initially like you, but… You've done so much for us that I don't know what to say." In response, Hideki simply shook his head. _Humble as ever. I guess me and him aren't too different in that regard._ "And Maria, I'll be looking forward to speaking to you again in the future. You'll have to keep me _updated_ on your progress, and don't hesitate to ask us for any advice." Maria blushed slightly as her eyes widened at Sora's words, but she composed herself quickly enough and nodded in return. _Hideki doesn't seem to have picked up on what Sora meant… Well, I know he isn't going to pry, and I'll leave it up to Maria if she ever wants to tell him._

"Come on, Sora. Let's get our luggage." I said to my sister and glanced at the others, who were almost ready, with Mikami already waiting for us, and she nodded back to me. "Thank you for everything, Hideki, Maria. I hope we'll be able to see each other again." Maria and Hideki smiled at me, the latter giving me a nod and a pat on the shoulder. " _And thank you again for all this, Harri. We are glad to have been able to be of help to you._ " I then turned to Harri with a bow.

" _You are very welcome, Haruka. We'll be happy to accompany you again, should you come for another visit!_ " Harri replied with a smile as Sora and I gathered our luggage with us.

" _We'll remember that, though you might not see us for a long while. But, we do want to return again._ " I said as I secured the straps of a backpack on my shoulders.

" _Maybe we'll come back in the winter to see what all the fuss is about._ " Sora continued after me and extended the handle of her suitcase, ready to pull it along behind her. _It shouldn't be too heavy for Sora._

" _I'll gladly show you around the best sights Rovaniemi has to offer, in that case. But now, I bid you all farewell._ " Harri raised a hand as Sora and I made our way to the others, who had also finished their preparations.

"Send me a message after you've landed, and I'll call you. Goodbye, Sora, Haruka!" Hideki waved after us enthusiastically, while Maria moved to approach us, enveloping Sora in a hug before either of us could react.

"Good luck with your relatives. I hope everything goes well for you two." Maria said as she separated from Sora, then shifted her gaze to me, her expression one of hesitance. "Is it… okay if I hug your brother too?" She then asked from my sister, who let out a small sigh.

"Go, on then. You're not the first blonde beauty to hug him at this airport." Sora said and shook her head in fake exasperation. _Maria and Yumiko-san would probably have gotten along great… It's a shame they never got to meet._

"Alright." Maria said and hugged me, and unlike with Yumiko, I was able to properly and appropriately reciprocate the gesture. "Goodbye, Sora, Haruka." She then said after letting go of me.

"Goodbye, everyone." I said and waved at Hideki, Harri and Maria as the blonde retreated back to the two of them, all three waving back.

After we all finished exchanging goodbyes, the six of us made our way to the security check. This was finally it. Our vacation was coming to an end, and we would shortly be on our way back home. The last few steps we took on Finnish ground before entering the plane signified the end to this chapter in our lives.

But, as one chapter ends, another begins, and both Sora and I knew that we had a lot still ahead of us.

* * *

I slowly stirred awake from my sleep, but not wanting to wake up yet, I kept my eyes firmly shut and snuggled against the warmth next to I knew to be my brother. I could faintly feel a hand gently caressing my hair, lulling me back to sleep, but the awkward position I was in was making that hard. After a few moments, I gave up trying to fall back asleep and slowly opened my eyes, looking up to see my brother's face with my head leaning on his shoulder.

"Hey, Sora. Sleep well?" Haru gave my hair a few strokes as I nuzzled into his neck, before pulling away and stretching.

"Well enough, though I would have preferred a longer nap." I replied and pulled up the cloth screen that was obstructing the window on my right. Nothing but clouds could be seen outside, stretching out seemingly endlessly in all directions. "How long do we have left of the flight?" I asked and turned to my brother again.

"I think about an hour or two. The flight is supposed to land in Tokyo early in the morning, and I think it should be around three or four in the morning in Japan right now." Haru said as he looked upwards thoughtfully. _Right, of course… If this had been a direct flight,_ _we would have been back earlier, but having to change planes in the middle caused a slight delay… Though, I guess then our return would have been in the middle of the night._ _But, this does raise a good question I didn't think of before…_

"…Will our aunt and uncle really be able to wait for us if it's that early? Don't they have like… _work_?" In truth, I didn't even know what either of them did for a living. Nor did I care for that matter.

"According to Hideki, they are aware of when the flight lands, and said that they would be coming, so I would assume so. Neither of them work a nightshift, to my knowledge, so waking up early to come and meet us at the airport shouldn't be too big of an issue." Haru replied, before his expression darkened slightly. "That is, if they bother coming for us. Though, with how adamant they were about their plans for us, I would figure that they do plan on coming there." I felt my hand balling up into a fist, but I calmed myself and turned to look out of the window.

"Well, it doesn't matter what they do. We'll still be leaving the airport with Kyou-san and Tomoya-san, not with them." I said and leaned on the armrest, resting my head on my palm as I watched the clouds rolling by outside. "I would prefer to get our business done with them as soon as possible, though, so we never have to meet with them again."

"At least you're being confident about the outcome of our proposal to them." I turned back to Haru and took his hand into my own, the gesture eliciting a raised eyebrow from my brother.

"Of course I'm confident in _us_ , Haru. We're going to make them accept our terms, no matter what it takes. I'm not going to let our aunt and uncle separate you from me, Haru." Haru looked back at me silently for a few moments, then smiled.

"And I won't let them separate you from me, Sora." I smiled back at my brother, and got the urge to kiss him, but held myself back, knowing that Mikami was sat just a couple of rows behind us. _Gah, it feels like it's been so long since we last shared a kiss… And even longer since we_ fucked _. Heh, at least I know what we'll be doing the first chance we get once we're home…_ Suppressing my train of thought before I lost control of myself, I gave Haru's hand a squeeze before letting go of it, turning back to the window. _I was planning on sleeping through the second half of our flight, but… It looks like I'll just have to sit through this one. Unfortunately, there isn't much in the form of entertainment, here…_

"Hey, Haruka, Sora." Hearing the voice of Tomoya, I turned towards the aisle and saw him sitting down on the empty seat left of Haru.

"Hey, Tomoya-san. You left Kyou-san and Ushio at their seats?" Haru asked from Tomoya as he got comfortable in the seat.

"Both asleep. I figured since there was not much to do with them snoozing that I'd come here." Tomoya replied while folding open the tray on the back of the seat in front of him, resting his hands on top of it.

"I just woke up myself and was contemplating on what to do to pass the time until we land. Not much here in the form of amenities, unfortunately." I said and leaned back in my seat. _Maybe investing in something like a handheld console_ _could be a good idea. Hikigaya-san had a PSP, so perhaps asking him about it might be a good option? Then again, how often are we going to go on trips like this..?_

"Well, that just means we have to make our own fun, right? The rest of the flight will go by in a flash if we're together!" Tomoya pumped his fist in the air with a determined look on his face, and a small chuckle left my brother's mouth. _Well, it'll be better than just sitting here with just the two of us._

While I wouldn't have said that the last hours of the flight passed in a flash, Tomoya's presence did help with staving off our boredom. There wasn't much we could do, even with the three of us, but we could at least keep the conversation going. Tomoya was very eager to discuss everything that we could get up to after settling down with all of the legal business. Haru and I told him more about Okukozome and the people we knew there, and together we made plans for what we could do there before Tomoya had to return to Hikarizaka for work. Of course, a lot of our plans relied on a variable unknown to Tomoya – the relationship Haru and I had. We were going to tell the truth to Tomoya and Kyou as soon as we were finished with the business with our relatives, but I knew we would also have to speak to everyone back home. Depending on their reaction, how we lived our life in Okukozome could change, even if Tomoya and Kyou were able to accept us. Thinking about all the possible outcomes just made me feel depressed, so I shifted my focus away from those thoughts before long.

After some time, we heard an announcement from the PA system of the plane informing us that we would be landing at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo in approximately one hour, and that all passengers were asked to begin their preparations for landing within the next half an hour. Tomoya lingered with us for a little while after the announcement, but then returned to his own seat to wake up his wife and daughter, leaving Haru and I alone again. A flight attendant passing by asked us if we wanted anything – drinks or snacks – before landing, as this would be the final chance to do so, but we both refused. I was getting a little peckish, but we could get food if we needed to after safely landing back home. But, even before that, there was something more important ahead of us.

As much as I tried to calm myself, each passing minute made me more and more anxious. Would our aunt and uncle even be there? How would they react when we told them of our plans? I wanted to think positively, that everything would go in our favour, but the pessimism rooted deep within me couldn't be gotten rid of so easily. The best I could do was put my faith into Haru and the others, and put on my best face. I would oppose our relatives to the bitter end, and beat my anxiety to a pulp. And them, too, if necessary.

Soon enough, another announcement was broadcast from the cockpit, asking all of the passengers to fasten our seatbelts for the landing. When the plane started to slowly lower its altitude, the cityscape of Tokyo and its surrounding areas came into view. The sun was beginning to rise in the east, casting its orange glow over the lights of the metropolis, making for a rather artistic display. At least, that's what I assumed someone with an eye for that kind of thing would say. For all I know, the scene could be nothing special. Still, I thought it looked kind of pretty, and that's all that matters. Soon enough, the plane had landed safely and Haru and I were making our way to the baggage reclaim area of the airport, where Kyou, Tomoya and Ushio were waiting for us. As we walked through the airport, I kept nervously glancing around, feeling my heart thumping in my chest as I tried to spy our relatives from amongst the crowd.

"Ah, here they are. Sora, Haruka, over here!" Turning to the source of the voice, we saw Kyou waving at us, Tomoya and Ushio just behind her as they watched the conveyor belt where a multitude of suitcases, backpacks and travel bags could be spotted. "Now we just need Mikami. Any word from your relatives yet?" Kyou asked from us as we walked up to them, Haru joining Tomoya next to the conveyor belt, ready to pick up our luggage.

"Nothing yet. They aren't exactly known to be patient, so a part of me is expecting a call soon." Haru replied as he picked up my suitcase from the conveyor belt. I glanced around again, swallowing down my nervousness, but the only person I recognized was Mikami, who was walking briskly towards us from the crowd.

"I assume you'll recognize each other still? When was the last time you saw them?" Kyou asked as she waved at Mikami, who raised a hand in silent reply.

"It… would have been at our parents' memorial service." I replied as I recalled that day, forcing away the negative thoughts associated with it. "Haru probably saw them after that, though. They should hopefully still recognize us, at least."

"I'll try to call uncle if we don't see or hear from them soon. Let's get all our luggage first, though." I nodded to my brother in reply, then moved to help him.

"I assume you two are all ready for meeting your relatives?" Mikami suddenly asked as he reached to pick up his own luggage, glancing over at us briefly. "I'll be there as your legal representative, but as a stranger, I doubt I alone could convince them. In fact, I _shouldn't_ try to convince them on my own – that might backfire on us." _Backfire? Like… that they would think this wasn't our own decision to make? Hmph. That won't be an issue. I will make it_ very _clear that this is what we want._

"Well… I'd say that I'm ready. I am a little nervous, but… I won't back down even if they oppose the idea." Haru said, then turned to me.

"It's like Haru said. We won't back down. If they want to separate us, we won't let them." I said with confidence, and my brother smiled at me.

"At least you're going into this with the right mindset." Mikami said, allowing a small smile onto his face. "I'm sure things will go just fine. Even if they bring the issue to court, they'll be hard-pressed to find a lawyer as good as I am – not that I am bragging, mind you." I smiled back at Mikami. _I never would have imagined he would turn out to be here with us like this. One of the things I've learned during my time in Finland was definitely that_ _I should stop judging people based on first impression alone._

After we had collected all of our luggage and double-checked that we weren't missing anything, Haru dialled our uncle's number as our group began to make its way to the main hall of the airport, as we figured that if our relatives were already here, they'd be waiting somewhere close to the entrance. Somewhat to our surprise, our uncle picked up the call, and Haru told him that we had landed and were waiting for them. In turn, he asked us to come to them at the parking lot just outside, and after briefly thinking it over with everyone, we decided to comply. After hearing Haru's response, our uncle ended the call, and we began to make our way outside. With each step we took towards the main doors, I felt my heartbeat increasing. _This is finally it. We're going to declare everything straight to their face._ I took a hold of Haru's free hand with mine to calm myself, and I could tell from my brother's grip that he was nervous too.

Once outside, we all scanned our surroundings, briefly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people at the airport – even this early in the morning – as we were all still no doubt used to the calm quietness of Finland. After our brief shock, we hurried towards the large parking lot to meet with our relatives. Our uncle hadn't told us which part of the parking lot they were waiting at, but luckily we didn't have to search for long, as very shortly after entering, Haru and I saw two familiar figures in the distance – our aunt and uncle. Apart from a different set of clothes, they looked exactly as they had the day I had last seen them. Our uncle – father's older brother – sported the same brown hair as our father did (though he had considerably less of it) and if someone put a pair of glasses on him, he'd be the splitting image of our father. He was leaning against the hood of an old Toyota and held a cigarette in his hand, blowing smoke upwards as he gazed into the distance. Next to him, pacing back and forth, was a woman who was clearly younger than our uncle (but not as young as Kyou), who we both recognized as our father's younger sister, our aunt. Unlike our uncle, her shoulder-length hair was white – though I seem to recall it being dyed instead of natural, something to do with her being jealous of our mother's silver hair. As we got closer, our aunt was the first one to notice us, and I took a sharp intake of breath once our eyes met and she stopped in place, nudging her brother with an elbow. _Here we go._

"Oh, you're here." Our uncle said once were within hearing distance, taking one final drag of his cigarette before dropping it onto the ground and stomping on it. "Get your luggage in the trunk and climb in. We can talk about you two _running off_ like this on the way." Our uncle pointed at his car with a thumb, but instead of complying with him, Haru and I stopped a few metres away from them, with the rest of our group stopping with us.

"Wait, who are these people?" Our aunt asked, pointing a finger at Tomoya and Kyou, her gaze flicking between each of us. "You're… not Minaduki Hideki-san, are you? No, you're too young to be him." She asked as her gaze landed on Tomoya. I looked to Haru, who met my gaze with his own, then nodded.

"Aunt, Uncle." Haru addressed our relatives, then took a deep breath. "There's… something we need to discuss with you two." Our aunt raised an eyebrow in question, while our uncle crossed his arms over his chest.

"And these people have something to do with it..?" Our uncle asked, locking gazes with Mikami to our left.

"Yes, it does. They are… Well, I guess you could say they are friends of ours that we made during our trip." Haru began, his gaze flicking to Tomoya, then Kyou, and finally Mikami. "We know what you two are planning on doing. As our closest relatives, we are under your custody, but you want to separate Sora and I from each other. We don't want that." Haru's gaze was fixated on our uncle, who was looking back at him with a stony expression.

"I'm not going to leave Haru." As I spoke, both our aunt and uncle turned their gazes to me. "If having you two as our legal guardians means that Haru and I will live apart from each other, I would rather be _homeless_." Our uncle's eyes widened slightly at my remark, but it was our aunt who spoke.

"What… do you mean? Sora? Haruka?" Our aunt's gaze flicked between Haru and I, and Mikami looked to us with a raised eyebrow. _We've said what we want, now, so Mikami-san can explain it to them with proper terminology._ I gave Mikami a nod, and he looked back to our relatives and took a step forwards.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mikami Teru, a lawyer." Mikami gave a small bow to our relatives, and flashed what looked like a business card to them, then gestured back to us. "Haruka and Sora have told us about the unfortunate passing of their parents, and the fact that you two are now their legal guardians. However, you two wish to separate the siblings from each other against their will, and thus, they turned to me – _us –_ for help." Mikami glanced at Tomoya and Kyou, giving them a nod.

"My name if Okazaki Tomoya, and this is my wife, Okazaki Kyou, along with my daughter, Ushio." Tomoya took a step forward and introduced himself and his family. "To put it all bluntly… Haruka and Sora want us to become their legal guardians, instead of you." Our aunt and uncle looked back at us with dumbstruck expressions. In their silence, Mikami continued.

"Haruka and Sora believe that your plans of separating them are unfair and not done with their bests interests in mind. They believe this to be a violation of their rights, and request that the rights to their legal guardianship be transferred to a third party, one that is more fit for taking care of them in accordance to their needs. In this case, they have requested the Okazakis, who are happy to oblige to this request. The final decision shall be made in the family court, but this decision requires your cooperation and approval." Mikami's words seemed to get our relatives out of their stupor, as they blinked, looked at each other, then turned back to us.

"That is… Ridiculous!" Our aunt said, glaring at Mikami, then at Tomoya. "What on earth are you talking about? Making these strangers your legal guardians? You were entrusted to us by our brother – your father – when he died, not to the first person you meet after running away from home." I felt my hand balling up into a fist. _Our parents would have rather entrusted us to our grandparents than to you two._

"And we are requesting that you agree to transferring those rights to the Okazakis. We don't _want_ you two as our legal guardians, if the first thing you'll do is separate Sora and I. We won't accept that." Haru replied to our aunt, while I glared at her.

"...So the way you'll honour your parents' death is by forsaking the family, is that it?" Our uncle said with a low voice, then scoffed. "You two were already in a bad spot, but that's a sure way to get yourselves disowned." On our right, I saw Kyou's eye twitch, and she tried to take a step forward, but Tomoya stopped her with a hand on her shoulder before she could say anything.

"I'm afraid that is not exactly how it works, Kasugano-san." Mikami interjected. "This is not adoption. Haruka and Sora would stay in the Kasugano family registry, but their legal guardians would be marked as the Okazakis. Besides..." Mikami's expression darkened as he narrowed his eyes, and I nearly felt a chill go down my spine from seeing the gleam in his red eyes. "...Based on everything they have told me, I find it rather odd that Haruka and Sora received so little in the form of inheritance. It is believable that their parents – due to dying suddenly in an accident – did not have a last will or testament, but it is _not_ believable that in such a case a majority of the inheritance did not end up with the children of the deceased. It would be interesting to get to see the documents on how exactly the late Kasuganos' wealth was distributed." Suddenly, both our aunt's and uncle's faces paled. _Wait… Don't tell me that they've done what I think they've done…_ I glanced at Haru, who was looked at Mikami with a surprised expression, before he turned his gaze to our uncle, furrowing his brows in anger. _If they've seriously cheated our rightful inheritance away from us..._

"Y-you have no right to dig through any documents! T-this discussion is over!" Our uncle spat out at Mikami, and I felt my fist shaking in anger. Glancing to our right, I could see Kyou barely containing herself, and I knew she would explode at any moment – and I would do the same right after her.

"Well, that isn't quite right either. As a lawyer hired by Haruka Kasugano and Sora Kasugano, I can request access to legal documents related to their case. And what should I do in a situation where I would come across something so peculiar when handling the transfer of legal guardianship rights? As a lawyer, I strive to see justice served, and I would not be able to overlook such a large error. The law is the same for everyone, after all." Mikami smiled slightly as our aunt and uncle stared at him with wide eyes. He was clearly enjoying this. "Of course, as I said, the final decision will be made in the family court, but we do require your word on accepting our request before the issue can be taken there. And there does turn out to be some… _swindling_ involved… well, that is an entire different topic."

"..." Our uncle stared at Mikami silently, while our aunt turned to her brother with a helpless expression. After multiple seconds of silence, our uncle turned to Haru and I. "...I don't know where you found this man from, but… Do as you wish. Hmph, should have known you two would cause trouble…" Our uncle grumbled, and I turned to Haru with a raised eyebrow.

"So then you mean..." Haru began warily, and our uncle let out a sigh.

"Yes, whatever. If it means you two will become someone else's problem, I'll take it." Our uncle replied, then looked to Mikami again, pointing a finger at him. "But this… This will not be over. I won't let you meddle any more in a family matter." He glared at Mikami, who simply smiled in return, before turning and opening the driver's side door of his car. "Come on, sis. We're leaving." Our aunt quickly scampered to the other side of the car, briefly glancing back at us before opening the door and sitting inside.

"Thank you for your cooperation. I will get this underway as quickly as possible, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for a call from the family court. And, I do agree that this is very much not over. Though I suspect it will not exactly end in the way you're hoping it will." Our uncle looked at Mikami through the rear-view mirror for a few seconds, then turned on the engine, and we backed off as he drove away. A few moments passed before I let go of everything I was holding and jumped onto my brother, enveloping him in a hug but restraining myself enough to not kiss him.

"It… It actually worked out..." I could nearly feel tears forming in my eyes, but nuzzled my face deeper into my brother's neck to stifle them.

"Yes, it did. I'm glad." My brother replied and brought a hand around my shoulders. _We don't have to worry about them any more…_

"Ugh, if that had lasted for one more minute, I would have given both of them a good smack in the face." I heard Kyou say, before I felt another pair of arms enveloping both me and my brother. "I'm so glad everything worked out for you two." Kyou's embrace made me feel warm, and I smiled as I held onto my brother tighter.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet, as we do still have a lot ahead of us regarding this. Still, I do suppose congratulations are in order." Mikami said, and I turned my head enough to look at him, seeing a small smile on his face. "But, a more serious matter is your inheritance. Were you really not aware that you may not have received what you were supposed to?" Haru separated from me a little and looked at Mikami, his brow furrowing.

"No, we were not. It never crossed my mind that our relatives would do something like that." Haru replied. _I always just assumed that the house in Okukozome was our inheritance… I know for a fact that it took quite a while for them to sort out who got what, and that's why Haru and I only got to know that our parents left us with no money after already moving and settling down in Okukozome. Could it really have taken that long because our aunt and uncle were swindling our inheritance money away from us?_

"Hmmm… Well, I will look into it while I'm dealing with this. While I would want to say that their reaction is proof enough, I know best that unfortunately that isn't the case. Messing with inheritance is a serious matter, however, so I should be easily able to get a hold of the documents regarding your inheritance and find any signs of fraud or forgery." Mikami said as he brought a hand to his chin, looking into the distance in thought.

"Thank you, Mikami-san. You… did also mention us having _hired_ you already, which is..." Haru said, his expression turning a little grim.

"Oh, don't worry. I can do this much for you for free. I will, however, require payment for my 'proper' services, but we can discuss that once everything is dealt with. It's not like I require immediate payment." Mikami replied with a smile, and Haru let out a sigh of relief. "Now, I do believe we must part ways here for now, but depending on how things go, we'll see each other soon enough." Mikami let out a yawn and stretched one of his arms, then continued. "I'll need to sleep away some of this jet lag, and then I need to make some phone calls. I'll be in touch with you soon, so… Goodbye for now." Mikami raised a hand, then started making his away from the parking lot.

"Goodbye, Mikami-san, and thank you!" I said and let go of Haru and Kyou, giving the lawyer a small bow as he glanced behind him.

"Right, so… Are you two going to head back to Okukozome, then?" Tomoya asked as he turned to the two of us after waving to Mikami.

"Well..." Haru turned to look at me, and guessing what he had on his mind, I nodded to him. "...We could probably come and stay at your place for now, if that's okay? That way, it would be easier to attend to court session together." Kyou ' _hmmmmm'd_ ' thoughtfully as Haru finished.

"I think we can manage that. There should be a spare futon somewhere. You two would have to sleep together, but I don't think that will be an issue." Kyou said with a smile, and I nodded to her. "Right, that's decided, then. Isn't that great, Ushio? Sora-onee-chan and Haruka-onii-chan will be able to stay with us!" The young girl, who had been quietly observing everything as usual, nodded a little sleepily, and Kyou patted her on the head.

"Hey, Kyou, do I not get a say in this? I thought you wanted us to make decisions together!" Tomoya protested, and Kyou shot a glare towards him. "I-I mean, yes, of course you two can stay with us for now!" I giggled a little at Tomoya's words and smiled, taking Haru's hand into my own. _Ah, I'm so happy right now…_

 _So happy to be together… with my family._

* * *

 **AN: Phew, that is finally a wrap, folks! This chapter took longer than I had wanted to, but at least I didn't repeat what happened with the previous chapter. I am very happy with how this turned out, though, and I hope you all are happy to read it. This part of the story of the Kasugano twins has now come to a close, and there's only an epilogue left for me to write – you can expect that one to come out relatively soon. But, of course, the story does not end here, as you know. I have plans for the sequel story already, and I will tell you more about them when the epilogue comes out. It has been an absolute blast to write _New Life of the Kasugano Twins_ , and your continued support for the story brings a smile to my face time and time again, so I hope you'll be able to continue supporting me in the sequel!**

 **Now, until the epilogue chapter, for one final time, I bid you all farewell, and cheerio!**


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